The Yankees have signed outfielder Brennen Davis to a minor league deal, as reported by Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. It’s not clear whether or not the deal includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
Davis, 25, has not yet made his big league debut but was a consensus top-100 prospect for many years. A second-round pick by the Cubs in 2018, Davis broke out at the age of 19 in 2019 with a with a .305/.381/.525 slash line in 50 games at the Single-A level. Following the cancelled minor league season in 2020, Davis got the bump to High-A to start the 2021 season but lasted just eight games at the level before being promoted to Double-A. After hitting a solid .252/.367/.474 for the Cubs’ Tennessee affiliate in 76 games, Davis got his second promotion of the year with a late-season cup of coffee at Triple-A, where he impressed with a .268/.397/.536 slash line in 16 games.
After dominating at every level of the minors during his age-21 season, Davis became a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport and appeared to be on the verge of a Wrigley Field debut. Unfortunately, 2022 was not kind to the youngster as he struggled badly in 22 games at the Triple-A level before undergoing back surgery in May. He made it back to the club’s Iowa affiliate in September for the stretch run and managed a .361 on-base percentage down the stretch but hit just .188 and struggled to hit for power. Even after that disastrous 2022 campaign, Davis was still a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport and appeared poised for a rebound in 2023.
Unfortunately, that rebound never came. Davis’s 2023 and 2024 seasons have been just as injury plagued as 2022 as he contended first with core surgery and then a fractured ankle. The outfielder’s brutal 2023 numbers (.187/.296/.279 in 62 games at Triple-A) were enough to knock him off every top-100 prospect list, but he did manage to post strong numbers at Triple-A when healthy this season. In 47 games at Triple-A this year, Davis slashed .214/.359/.469 with 11 home runs in just 145 trips to the plate and a 12.7% walk rate, though his batting average was held down by a paltry .213 BABIP.
After years of injury struggles and given the club’s incredibly crowded outfield mix, the Cubs decided last month that they could no longer afford to use a 40-man roster spot on Davis and non-tendered him. That led to him hitting minor league free agency, and he’s now caught on with the Yankees. For New York, the youngster represents a low-risk, high-reward flier who if healthy could potentially contribute to the club’s big league outfield as soon as this year. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are currently locked into two of the club’s three outfield spots, but if Davis can stay healthy and prove his strong power and discipline numbers from 2024 were a return to form it’s not hard to imagine him vying for playing time alongside fellow youngsters Jasson Dominguez and Everson Pereira, the latter of whom is currently rehabbing from elbow surgery he underwent last summer.
Late.
Yankees making big moves. With this signing they are WS bound. This is the sub .250 hitter they needed.
Didn’t this come out like 2 weeks ago
As a big Cubs fan who has multiple Brennen Davis signatures, I’ve been saying we should’ve traded him since he got that very first injury. So sad to see what happened to him, budding superstar.
Wish him well in the Bronx, sad that he didn’t pan out.
I’ll give the Yankees this- they’re amazing at finding bounce back diamonds in the rough and squeezing virtually career best performances out of them for a chunk of or a full single season, so whenever I see these kinds of low profile minor league pick up’s, I don’t discount the potential there.
Right. And, the White Sox coujdbt use him? They have nothing in the OF.
I am sorry that I didn’t know you were a White Sox fan and would resent them for not signing this random guy to a minor league deal….
Nobody disputes the potential he has, but he has not been able to stay healthy since that first back injury, and the injuries have been significant.
He never made it due to several major back injuries..nice flier though..maybe the yankees have better doctors in this case?
correct Baseball Reference link
baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=dav…
Top 2 articles are the Yankees lol it’s comical can’t wait till tomm it’ll be all Yankees
Dodgers are tipped to sign Sasaki, despite him basically meeting with everybody…. and the Mets are making moves….
Yankees definitely suck up a ton of news oxygen around here, but they’re not the worst offenders of overly manipulating the market compared to the Dodgers or the Mets…
And at the end of the day, this is a very low level roll of the dice minor league signing of a relative nobody- something the site chooses to report on because a) it is technically baseball news and thus content for them and b) they report on a lot of these deals for every team.
Why would you assume he will sign with the dodgers the most you can offer him is 2 million there’s clubs that can offer him 7 million why would he waste 5 million to be a dodger…. That’s all you can offer you can’t go above that
First, Dodgers can trade for up to $3M in space.
Second, the bonus is insignificant to him. Makes mad money in endorsements and is looking at long term earning potential.
I’m not saying it’s automatic he’s going to Dodgers, but WHY wouldn’t he lol!!!!!
Plenty of reasons it makes sense- proximity to Japan, heavy Japanese presence on team, best 3-5 year window in baseball, etc.
But this dude is like Bruce Wayne. He’s quiet, lived through great personal tragedy and has little patience for mundane or unfair reporting. Those sort of characteristics make me assume he isn’t the type to necessarily take the easy route- but who knows?
Proximity to Japan? So The Dodgers are now closer to Japan than SF, Seattle, San Diego? Junior, Go get Dad’s Atlas! I gotta check something.
@UM1526 Sasaki has met with both NY teams, Chicago and Texas. Who said he was only choosing from West Coast teams?
You did. You said his Proximity to Japan made the Dodgers a ” Destination”. You also listed a bunch of other falsehoods like Japanese presence, Cubs and Padres don’t? Maybe read what you type before you make statements that don’t make sense. I didn’t say it, You did.
@UM1526 Lol, you’re reaching. Attributes don’t have to be exclusive. In totality the things I listed would make the LAD an attractive destination.
I also mentioned his reported personality has a shroud of mystery and doesn’t necessarily elude to a big market signing.
What I said made plenty of sense. Why you’re digging to make it incoherent says more about what you’re lacking than me.
Actually it’s top 3..
Thanks!
@mustache
This fall to plane like 3 days ago. I was wondering why it hadn’t been mentioned. This could’ve easily been mentioned with other random news but don’t blame the Yanks for being very active this winter. It’s the 6th or 7th transaction they made this month. And they’ll always be linked to players at position of need.
typos. yikes. “This deal took place…”
I’m not a Yankee hater at all I respect them I just want to hear about all teams…. I bet you I wake up to Yankee news…. I want to hear more about the royals the reds the brewers the a’s just other teams
@mustache
I get it. I’m just dating the previous 25 articles had nothing to do with the Yanks so what’s the big deal about these two?
It’s confirmation bias man. Like when you buy a different model car for the first time and all of a sudden you see them everywhere. Your hate has altered reality.
But bigger market teams do have more funds for more dice rolls on players and in general carry more fans which equals more clicks and ad revenue for the site, so there will always be a bit more news for the top 10 payrolls or so.
Chicks dig home runs. Not bunts.
@mustache
the previous 25 weren’t. is that really a problem?
Maybe there gm will sneeze
I don’t know if the dodgers have that locked…. They don’t have the international money that other teams do…. They just can’t offer him the money other teams can
@Mustache – First off, nice buy low signing by the Yankees. If this kid can get healthy, he could provide some value in the bigs potentially.
In regards to Sasaki, the fact that he didn’t wait 2 more years until he was 25 and then sign a $300M+ FA “Yamamoto deal” tells me he can care less about how much of a signing bonus he receives this year. He’s going to make $10’s of millions of dollars in endorsements, so he’s going to sign with the team that makes him feel the most comfortable and I have a bad feeling that it’s going to end up being the Dodgers.
You can’t offer him any more money it is what it is
I’m going to play arm chair GM and help out Cash Ninja who doesn’t really need my help but it’s for free so if he or any of the top executives actually read comments on this thread here it is:
Great job rebuilding the lineup and bullpen after losing Soto, Holmes, Torres, and Rizzo but the team is still incomplete and in order to get an A grade the lineup needs a leadoff hitter and the bullpen needs a few left relievers. Adding Roki would be hitting the lottery.
First order of biznatch is trading away two contracts in Stroman 18m and Grisham 5m and adding a young player like Oswaldo Cabrera and not expecting anything back other than international money to use towards Roki hopefully.
Now that saves the Yanks approx 25m and here is where real fireworks begin.
The Yanks have a need for either 2nd or 3rd base and another left handed batter and more importantly a leadoff hitter. There is one name who fits the bill to a tee! Salvatore Frelick of the Milwaukee Brewers. He has okayed mostly outfield but the Brew crew was looking to move him to third if it became available which it hasn’t. But it has for the Yankees. In order to get him the Yanks will have to trade away more than they would like because the Brewers aren’t necessarily looking to deal him. With Adames leaving they could use a SS so first player going back is Oswald Perraza. The second prospect going back is one of our top pitching prospects in Will Warren. Add in 1 righty arm from our bullpen and one more high end prospect. So 3 prospects, a bullpen arm for Sal Frelick to leadoff and play third for the Yankees. Than sign Hill as lefty bullpen arm to replace the righty arm we dealt. Lastly sign the Korean infielder Lee 26yo another left handed batter to be super utility.
Off season is complete with the lineup:
Frelick
Bellinger
Judge
Wells
Stanton
Jazz
Goldschmidt
Dominguez
Volpe
Bench:
Rice
DJL
Lee
Back up catcher
Starters:
Cole
Fried
Gil
Rodon
Schmidt
Roki
Bullpen:
Williams
Hamilton
Weaver
Hill
Leiter Jr
Losiaga
Lopez
@billy – creative idea, but Frelick is an established member of the Brewers big league club and they would have very little interest in moving him unless the Yankees severely overpay. The Brewers would require someone like Spencer Jones in such a deal along with Will Warren and Chase Hampton. That’s a very steep price, but that’s what it would take to pry him loose.
Brewers have payroll limitations so taking spare parts like Grisham and Oswaldo is a non-starter. Neither are everyday players and no teams is giving up int’l pool money for them.
I would much rather see Jasson hitting cleanup than Wells.
@Billy
Jazz offers more power and speed than Frelik and we know he can handle 3b whereas Frelik has only played 3b for 4 innings. Jazz also has a obp just as good as Frelik. I’d rather save the prospect capital and have Jazz lead off and Cabrera at 3b. He has more power than Frelik and can probably put up the same slash line. We’ve traded away a lot of prospects the last 2 years. I wouldn’t want to trade any top 10 guys for players like Frelik.
@billy.
Not to pour water on your parade, but seriously that lineup is not one to strike fear. The pitching staff has some depth.
But without Sota, the Yanks need Judge and Stanton to stay healthy, they need growth and contributions from Volpe and Dom – but to me (unbiased as a NYY observer), I don’t get a team that spends like they do, to have to count on Wells and Stanton as 4th and 5th hitters in the lineup.
I like these kinds of deals. A top 100 prospect gets derailed by injuries could turn into the scrap heap pickup of the year.
Brendan Donovan is probably the perfect player for the Yankees.
Top 20 prospect! Quoting Tony the Tiger: “he’s a gonna be Great!”
i love stories of perseverance
good luck and good health young man!
Why did Cubs keep matt mervis on the 40 though?
I know people making fun of this, but if nothing to lose, they’re just stuck piling outfielders as depth for their minor league system, and in case they need something temporarily to fill in in the event, someone gets injured, obviously that like counting on this guy to be anything or to play a significant role if any. it’s Dominguez that they’re pinning all their hopes on, let’s hope they’re right because if he turns out to be another nothing burger, we could be in trouble
In order for the Yanks lineup to be top half of league this year, Volpe, and Wells need to take big steps up and Dominguez will need to be in the ROY conversation. There are too many question marks in the lineup to see this going well.
Judge is the only sure thing and at best everyone else is a 50/50 chance of underperforming or declining.
Every lineup has question marks and are one injury away from not being good. The goal is to create an athletic versatile lineup and I feel the Yankees are headed in that direction. You need guys to get on base, be able to run while on the bases, and create runs. That’s winning baseball And playoff baseball.