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J.D. Davis

East Notes: Means, Mets, Yankees, Strasburg

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The Mets made an attempt to acquire left-hander John Means from the Orioles during the offseason, but Baltimore rebuffed New York, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The Mets surely weren’t alone in trying to acquire Means, who’s making a minimal salary this year and still has three years of arbitration control remaining. Means proved himself as a capable mid- to back-of-the-rotation starter from 2019-20, but he has taken his game to an entirely different level this season. The 28-year-old has pitched to a microscopic 1.21 ERA with impressive strikeout and walk percentages of 28.0 and 5.3, respectively, over 52 innings. This has been a May to remember for Means, who no-hit the Mariners on the 5th and then tossed six scoreless innings against the team that wanted him, the Mets, this past Tuesday.

Here’s more on the Mets and a couple other East Coast clubs:

  • The Yankees announced Friday that designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with tightness in his left quad. The issue sidelined Stanton on Friday, and he’s now “day to day, hopefully nothing more than that,” manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Stanton endured a pair of injury-ruined seasons from 2019-20, in which he played in 41 of a possible 222 games, but has mostly stayed healthy this year. The 31-year-old slugger has been in excellent form with a .282/.347/.534 line and nine home runs in 144 plate appearances.
  • Sticking with the Yankees, right-hander Luis Severino is at the “start of spring training mode” as he works his way back from February 2020 Tommy John surgery, Boone said Friday (via Marly Rivera of ESPN). Severino threw 23 pitches of live batting practice Friday and averaged between 96 and 97 mph. The 27-year-old was one of the game’s elite starters from 2017-18, leading the Yankees to sign him to a four-year, $40MM extension, though he totaled only 12 innings in 2019 as a result of shoulder problems and hasn’t pitched since. To its credit, New York’s rotation has done well this year without Severino; nevertheless, the team will surely be glad to welcome him back if he’s healthy.
  • Nationals righty Stephen Strasburg will make a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com tweets. Manager Dave Martinez said the hope is that Strasburg will go five innings and throw 75 to 80 pitches. Washington has barely gotten anything in 2021 from Strasburg, who’s in the second season of a seven-year, $245MM contract, as a result of shoulder inflammation. This is the second straight injury-limited year for the former World Series MVP, who has totaled just 15 innings since 2020.
  • Mets third baseman J.D. Davis and reliever Seth Lugo will soon begin rehab assignments at the Triple-A level, Bill Ladson of MLB.com writes. While the Mets hoped Davis would exit the 10-day injured list Saturday, he’s still not ready to come back since suffering a left hand sprain on May 1. The club has gone all season without Lugo, who underwent surgery to remove a bone spur in his right elbow in February. Lugo started in seven of 16 appearances last season, but he’ll return to a relief role when he rejoins the Mets, per manager Luis Rojas.

Mets Place J.D. Davis On 10-Day IL

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MAY 3: The Mets have placed Davis on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 2) and recalled righty Trevor Hildenberger, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Meanwhile, Nimmo is still active, but he’s not in the Mets’ lineup Monday.

MAY 1: The Mets’ 5-4 victory over the Phillies may have been a costly one, as New York saw two lineup regulars leave tonight’s game with injuries.  The Mets announced that Brandon Nimmo suffered a left index finger contusion that forced the outfielder to leave partway through a seventh inning at-bat, while third baseman J.D. Davis was replaced before the bottom of the seventh due to a left hand sprain.

X-rays were negative on Nimmo, which is a positive sign considering that Nimmo looked to be in pain after fouling off a pitch during his at-bat.  It isn’t clear how Davis hurt his hand — he struck out during a sixth-inning plate appearance and then played his position in the bottom of the sixth, seemingly with no issue.  It’s possible this latest problem could be related to Davis’ previous left hand injury, as he was hit by a Chase Anderson pitch on April 7 and ended up spending a 10-day minimum stint on the injured list.

Since returning from that injury, however, Davis has been among the game’s hottest hitters.  Entering tonight’s play, Davis had an outstanding .395/.489/.632 slash line and two homers over 45 plate appearances, with a 208 wRC+ that ranked seventh amongst all players in baseball with at least 40 PA.

Nimmo hasn’t been far behind in terms of productivity, hitting .339/.453/.468 in 76 PA heading into tonight’s game.  Nimmo’s .453 OBP was leading the National League, and ranked fourth overall in baseball (behind only Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Yermin Mercedes) among qualified players.

Davis and Nimmo have represented a major chunk of the Mets’ offense thus far in the season, as apart from Pete Alonso, virtually the entire New York lineup has struggled to begin the season.  The Mets finished April ranked last in the majors in both runs and home runs, as well as 29th in team slugging percentage, 22nd in OPS+, and 20th in wRC+.

Mets Activate J.D. Davis From Injured List

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The Mets are reinstating third baseman J.D. Davis from the injured list, Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to note (Twitter link). Infielder José Peraza was optioned to the team’s alternate training site in a corresponding move. Additionally, right-hander Franklyn Kilome has cleared waivers and been sent outright to the alternate site.

Davis returns from a hand injury after the minimum amount of time on the shelf. The 27-year-old figures to resume his role as New York’s top option at the hot corner. Peraza’s contract was selected from the alternate site to add infield depth when Davis went on the shelf, but he’ll ultimately head back without having gotten into a game. Peraza will keep his spot on the 40-man roster, though.

Kilome lost his 40-man spot to accommodate the Mets’ addition of Peraza last week. A former top prospect in the Phillies’ system, Kilome has seen his stock tumble quite a bit in recent years. He’ll remain in the New York organization and hope to pitch his way back onto the roster.

Mets Place J.D. Davis On 10-Day IL, Select Jose Peraza, Designate Franklyn Kilome

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The Mets have placed infielder J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list due to a left hand contusion, the team announced.  Davis’ placement is retroactive to April 7.  In corresponding moves, infielder Jose Peraza’s contract was selected from the alternate training site, and right-hander Franklyn Kilome was designated for assignment to open up a 40-man roster spot for Peraza.

Davis was hit on the hand by a Chase Anderson fastball during Tuesday’s game and hasn’t since been back on the field.  X-rays on both Davis’ hand and left wrist were negative, and it doesn’t sound as if Davis will miss much or any time beyond the minimum stay on the injured list, though an IL placement seems necessary if Davis isn’t yet ready to play.

Luis Guillorme and Jonathan Villar have filled in at third base in Davis’ absence, and Peraza might also join this mix.  Signed to a minor league deal back in November, Peraza saw pretty close to everyday duty for the Reds as a second baseman, shortstop, and eventually as a super-utility option in 2017-19, but Cincinnati non-tendered the infielder due to a lack of hitting.  The problems at the plate continued for Peraza with the Red Sox last season, as he batted just .225/.275/.342 over 120 PA in 2020.

Peraza drew some top-100 prospect attention prior to the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and Kilome also isn’t far moved from his days as a highly-touted minor leaguer in the Phillies’ system — Baseball Prospectus included the righty on their top-100 lists every year from 2016-18.  Kilome was acquired by the Mets in the Asdrubal Cabrera trade in July 2018, and Kilome then had to undergo Tommy John surgery just a few months later that wiped out his 2019 campaign.

Kilome did make his MLB debut last season, but he was hit hard in every appearance and posted an 11.12 ERA over 11 1/3 innings.  It isn’t out of the question that another team could claim Kilome off the DFA wire, given his past prospect pedigree, but that seems to be a risk the Mets are willing to take on the 25-year-old.

NL Injury Notes: Wong, Akiyama, Goldy, Davis

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Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong departed the team’s game against the Cardinals on Thursday after re-aggravating his left oblique, manager Craig Counsell told Andrew Wagner of the Wisconsin State Journal and other reporters. It’s the same issue that kept Wong from playing Wednesday, and Counsell said (via Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) there’s a “distinct possibility” that he’ll require a trip to the injured list. Wong, previously with St. Louis, joined the Brewers on a two-year, $18MM contract during the offseason. If he does have to miss time shortly into his Brewers tenure, it would be another blow to the middle infield depth of a team that traded Orlando Arcia to Atlanta earlier this week. The Brewers did add veteran Dee Strange-Gordon on a minor league contract Thursday, though Daniel Robertson – who replaced Wong when he exited – would be the favorite to handle most of the reps at the keystone.

  • The Reds are planning to have Shogo Akiyama back with the team in early-to-mid May, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Akiyama started slowly for the Red last season, but he was able to adjust and post a strong second half. At least so far, however, the Reds have managed just fine without him. Tyler Naquin has helped fill the void with a massive start to the season. With Nick Senzel, Jesse Winker, Nick Castellanos, and Aristides Aquino on the roster, the Reds are in no real hurry to upset the apple cart, so to speak.
  • Paul Goldschmidt was scratched from today’s Cardinals game because of lower back tightness, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter). The move was precautionary, so presumably the Cardinals don’t expect this to lead to an IL placement. Manager Mike Shildt said after the game that Goldschmidt’s day to day, and the Cardinals will know more about his status Friday, Jeff Jones of the Belleville News tweets.
  • The Mets received some good news on J.D. Davis. X-rays came back negative on his bruised left hand, Tim Healey of Newsday relays (via Twitter). Davis does not appear to be headed to the injured list, though he remained out of the lineup for the Mets’ home opener today. Jonathan Villar took his place at the hot corner. Villar got the start at third base today for the first time since 2016. Luis Guillorme would also be in line to see a bump in playing time while Davis is on the shelf. It’s not clear, however, how much time Davis will miss.

2021 Arbitration Hearing Results & Post-Deadline Agreements

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January 15 was the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to officially submit salary figures for the 2021, and by the time the day was done, only 13 players didn’t reach agreement on a contract.  The majority of teams now adhere to the “file or trial” strategy, meaning that no further negotiations on a one-year deal will take place between the arbitration deadline and a hearing with an arbiter, which theoretically puts pressure on players to get a deal done if they are wary about taking their case to a third party.

“File and trial” tactics didn’t stop the Astros and Carlos Correa from agreeing to a one-year deal for just the 2021 season, which is also Correa’s last year before gaining free agent eligibility.  We also saw three multi-year deals reached, all from the greater Los Angeles area — the Dodgers reached two-year deals with Walker Buehler and Austin Barnes, while the Angels inked a two-year pact with Shohei Ohtani.

This left nine unresolved cases that went all the way to a hearing (held over Zoom) between an arbiter, the player, his representative(s), and front office personnel arguing the team’s side.  The teams won five of the nine hearings, continuing the very narrow edge teams have held over players in arb cases in recent years — over the last 99 arbitration hearings, teams hold a 51-48 record over players.

For the full list of every salary for every arbitration-eligible player this offseason, check out the MLB Trade Rumors Arb Tracker.  Sticking to the 13 players with unresolved cases from January 15, here’s the rundown…

Avoided Arbitration, One-Year Contract

Avoided Arbitration, Multi-Year Contract

Arbitration Hearings, Won By Player

Arbitration Hearings, Won By Team

Latest On Mets’ Interest In Kris Bryant

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Though the Mets and Cubs tabled their talks for Kris Bryant at some point last month, SNY’s Andy Martino reports that the two sides have re-engaged to some extent more recently.

As outlined here in the past, any trade involving Bryant would be complicated for myriad reasons. The former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP is coming off his worst season, though that came in a truncated 2020 schedule, making it more difficult to evaluate his ability to rebound. He’s also controlled for only one more season and owed a hefty $19.5MM at a time when most clubs throughout the league are wary of taking on more money. There’s also little hope of Bryant, a Scott Boras client, signing an extension — be it with the Cubs or with a new team that acquires him in a trade.

Martino indicates that the Mets have been looking for takers to offload relievers Dellin Betances and/or Jeurys Familia, both of whom are signed through 2021 at rather inflated amounts. Betances exercised a player option valued at $6.8MM for the coming season, while Familia is owed $11MM this coming season ($1MM of which is deferred until 2022). His contract also contains a $1MM assignment bonus in the event of a trade. Speculatively speaking, the Mets could try to push either reliever on the Cubs as something of a financial counterweight.

Of course, the Mets already have a third baseman who’s been a productive hitter for them: 27-year-old J.D. Davis. New York controls Davis all the way through the 2024 season, and while his ceiling isn’t as high as Bryant’s, Davis has been every bit as productive as Bryant over the past couple seasons (.288/.370/.483 to Bryant’s .267/.365/.488). Davis, however, is owed just $2.1MM this year and eligible for three more raises in arbitration between now and the 2024-25 offseason.

Martino adds that the Cubs have at times expressed interest in acquiring Davis themselves, which isn’t a shock given his affordable price tag and recent level of production. However, getting the Mets to part with Davis in return for Bryant alone seems decidedly unlikely. Even attaching Familia’s final year to Davis would still mean the Mets were taking on more than $6MM in new salary and parting with four years of Davis in exchange for one year of a hopeful Bryant rebound.

It’s easy to conjure up more elaborate scenarios in which the Cubs send Bryant and an established pitcher to the Mets, who could use an upgrade in the rotation to push Joey Lucchesi into more of a depth role. The Mets just missed on Trevor Bauer in free agency, and they’ve recently been linked to free-agent starters. The Cubs adding any MLB pitching help to a potential deal would likely necessitate adding more pieces on the Mets’ side, however, further illustrating the difficult nature of actually coming to an agreement on such a layered discussion.

Arbitration Hearing Decisions: J.D. Davis, Choi, Santander

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This year’s round of (virtual) arbitration hearings kicked off earlier this week. While a perhaps surprising number of players agreed to one-year deals to avoid arbitration last month rather than risk a hearing, we’ll still have a handful of cases heard by a three-person panel of arbitrators over the next couple of weeks. Some results from the first wave of hearings…

  • Mets third baseman/outfielder J.D. Davis lost his arbitration hearing and will earn $2.1MM in 2021 rather than the $2.475MM at which he filed, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has proven to be a good find for the now-former front office regime, hitting .288/.370/.483 with 28 homers and 31 doubles through 682 plate appearances since debuting with the Mets. Davis figures to see action at third base and perhaps in left field again in 2021, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration three more times due to his status as a Super Two player.
  • Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi won an arbitration hearing against the club and will be paid $2.45MM in 2021, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). The team had filed for a $1.85MM salary. Choi, 29, has spent the past three seasons with the Rays, batting a combined .257/.359/.461 with 30 homers, 45 doubles and three triples in 821 trips to the plate. He slashed .230/.331/.410 in 42 games last year and is controllable through 2023. Choi was one of two outstanding arbitration cases for the Rays — the other being left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, whose trial has not yet taken place.
  • The Orioles won their arbitration hearing over outfielder Anthony Santander, tweets Feinsand. Santander, like Davis, filed at $2.475MM with his club countering at $2.1MM. He’ll earn the lesser of those two sums. The 26-year-old is a former Rule 5 pick who had a solid showing in 2019 before breaking out with a huge performance in 2020. This past season, Santander batted .261/.315/.575 with 11 homers and 13 doubles in just 165 plate appearances. On the whole, he’s given the O’s a .261/.302/.505 slash with 31 homers and 33 doubles in his past 570 plate appearances. There are some obvious OBP question marks, but the power has prompted teams to look at Santander as a possible trade option. He’s also a Super Two player and is controlled through 2024.

Did The Mets Rob The Astros?

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Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has come under fire at times since the team hired the former agent after the 2018 season, but BVW has nonetheless had his high points atop their front office. One of his best decisions in New York came in January 2019, when he acquired a player who’s now among the Mets’ most valuable hitters in a trade with the Astros.

Sixteen months ago, Van Wagenen and then-Astros GM Jeff Luhnow worked out a swap that sent infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis and INF Cody Bohanek to the Mets for the trio of second baseman Luis Santana, outfielder Ross Adolph and catcher Scott Manea. Nobody from that quintet looked like a high-end asset at the time, and Davis was the only member of the group with major league experience.

Davis, a third-round pick of the Astros in 2014, hit a miserable .194/.260/.321 in 181 plate appearances in their uniform from ’17-18. However, Davis did have his way with Triple-A pitchers, against whom he slashed .335/.400/.589 with 22 home runs in 450 trips to the plate.

Davis’ success at the highest level of the minors impressed the Mets, who now look as if they acquired a terrific hitter at a low price. Davis got his first extensive look in the majors last season, his age-26 campaign, and ran with it.

Across 453 PA, Davis batted a strong .307/.369/.527 (136 wRC+) with 22 home runs in his Mets debut. The righty swinger showed no vulnerability against either same-handed or southpaw pitchers in the process, and his Statcast numbers don’t suggest his success was fluky. On the contrary, Davis finished in the league’s 80th percentile or better in barrels, exit velocity, expected slugging percentage, hard-hit rate, expected weighted on-base average and expected batting average. His xwOBA (.383) outdid an already impressive real-life mark of .373 and ranked 21st in the league, placing him among a slew of big names.

As great as Davis’ offense was last season, defensive woes tamped down his value. He lined up at third and in left field, where he combined for minus-20 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-6.3 Ultimate Zone Rating. Still, thanks to his offensive breakout, the overall package was worth an above-average 2.4 fWAR. That’s especially good for someone who looked like a lottery ticket when the Mets got him, and for someone who made a minimum salary in 2019. Davis won’t be eligible to reach free agency until after 2024, which means he could be an important piece of New York’s offense for several more years (perhaps especially if the NL adds a DH).

Unlike Davis, Bohanek hasn’t shown a ton of potential so far, and the 24-year-old turned in fairly nondescript numbers at the High-A level last season. The Astros don’t seem as if they’ll miss him, but what about their return? Here’s how it has panned out through one season…

  • Luis Santana: The Mets’ 19th overall prospect at MLB.com when the trade occurred, Santana’s now the outlet’s 22nd-ranked Astros farmhand. The 20-year-old hit just two homers last season, batting .267/.339/.352 in 186 Low-A attempts and .228/.333/.263 in 66 PA at the Double-A level.
  • Ross Adolph: The 23-year-old outfielder combined for a .228/.357/.366 line with seven homers in 460 PA between Single-A and High-A ball last season. Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel recently wrote for FanGraphs that he could amount to a role player in MLB.
  • Scott Manea: The 24-year-old offered a .235/.347/.387 line with 12 HRs and 389 PA at the High-A level last season. He’s not regarded as a notable prospect.

This looks like anything but a can’t-miss package for the Astros, though it’s still way too early to throw dirt on the careers of anyone they picked up. The Mets, meanwhile, can’t be anything but thrilled with what they’ve gotten from Davis.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brodie Van Wagenen Provides J.D. Davis Update

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The Mets received generally promising news on the shoulder health of corner infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen spoke with reporters including Tim Healey of Newsday (who provides a video on Twitter).

Davis underwent an MRI today. While the readout did identify some potential “previous injury” to Davis’s labrum, per Van Wagenen, that wasn’t deemed to be of concern. Davis “wasn’t symptomatic of anything beforehand” and the MRI “didn’t really show any new structural damage to his shoulder,” the GM explained.

Since the imaging also “didn’t show a ton of inflammation,” per Van Wagenen, Davis can begin the rehab process right away. Precisely when he will fully resume baseball activities remains to be seen; the current plan is for the team to re-assess the matter in one week’s time.

Davis says he has some aches and is “a little weak” in the shoulder, but has full range of motion and is generally “feeling alright.” (Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News provided video via Twitter.) While he’s feeling some sense of relief, the 26-year-old is still waiting to see how he progresses before declaring victory. Fortunately, so long as he bounces back at a reasonable pace, there’s certainly still a clear path for Davis to be ready to go at the start of the season.

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