Veteran infielder J.D. Davis has signed with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, per an announcement from the club. Davis, a client of ALIGND Sports, will play out the remainder of the 2025 season in Japan.
Davis, 32, has spent the year in the Angels organization. They released him on June 30, presumably to allow him to finalize this opportunity. Davis appeared in five big league games and went 1-for-9. He’s spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A Salt Lake, slashing .294/.371/.524 with 10 homers, 11 doubles, a triple, a 10% walk rate and a 26.3% strikeout rate.
A former third-round pick of the Astros in 2014, Davis has amassed more than six years of major league service time. From 2019-23, he was a productive part-time player with the Mets and Giants, batting a combined .268/.352/.443 with 63 home runs in 1804 plate appearances. His production since that time has evaporated, albeit in minimal playing time. Davis hit just .218/.293/.336 last year in 157 plate appearances between the A’s and Yankees. He also struggled badly in 136 Triple-A plate appearances between the Orioles and A’s.
All told, Davis heads to Japan with a career .257/.339/.423 batting line in 2151 major league plate appearances. A strong showing overseas could garner him some renewed interest in the big leagues or perhaps open him up for an extension or another free-agent deal that would come with a more substantial guarantee than he could expect in North America, where he’s been relegated to minor league deals over the past calendar year.
Good for JD and good for Japaneee baseball. I always liked him when he was on the Mets. Good hitter and good teammate.
Seibu definitely needs some help with a 40-39 record. But with that said, half the teams are below .500 in the NPB, so everyone is terrible. I blame the MLB stealing all their great players.
@Dooper
Incorrect. 14/30 (47%) are below .500. That is not half…
@Dooper
Maybe check the standings first before making a stupid post like that.
Literally as of this typing it’s 14 teams. 8 AL teams sit below .500 while 6 NL teams. You can probably attribute the slight unevenness in the NL to the fact that NL teams get to beat up on the Rockies more.
Interestingly, the NPB’s worst team is 24 games under .500 while MLB’s is a staggering 51 games under
Funny how the average record is .500.
It’s almost like every time a team wins another team loses. Crazy!
Almost like someone has to loose for someone to win huh?
If JD does well, the Japanese press will call him the Lion King.
Good for him and thank God it’s not with the Yankees again
He had 22 PAs with the Yankees. Lol
What? The Giants don’t want him back?
Good Luck Bubbles!
I always thought JD would be able to carve out a role as one of those slightly below avg hitting 1B fill-ins that teams are always desperately looking for (Dom Smith type). But I never saw him play 1B.
Looks like Leandro Cedeno is getting replaced on the active roster by JD Davis. Davis looks like an upgrade at DH since Tyler Nevin is holding down 1B with a 141 WRC+ (.775 ops)
He should stay in Japan for a few years and make millions. Will make a lot more there than here.
Very cool. Chatted with JD for a minute at Siri g training. Cool guy.
I’d love to spend a year or so in Japan.
Sayonara!
I still don’t understand why the fourth place Angels wouldn’t keep Davis on the big league roster. Hell a team like the Cubs getting nothing from 3B could’ve used him.