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Jahmai Jones

Tigers Designate Akil Baddoo For Assignment

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The Tigers announced that they have designated outfielder Akil Baddoo for assignment. That’s the corresponding 40-man move for the club to select Jahmai Jones, a move that was reported earlier today.

It’s the second time in the past year that the Tigers have designated Baddoo for assignment. The first came in December, with Baddoo getting passed through waivers unclaimed at that time. He was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo came into 2025 as non-roster depth and performed well enough in Triple-A to get called back up in mid-May. But he hit .118/.167/.176 in seven big league games and got optioned back down to Toledo a couple of weeks ago.

He’s now been bumped off the roster again and will likely head to the waiver wire for a second time. A player with a previous career outright has the right to elect free agency. That means that the chances of Baddoo departing the organization are far higher now compared to December. If he is claimed, he’s obviously gone. If he’s not claimed, he could be gone in that scenario as well.

He has always performed well in the minors but his major league track record is more mixed. The Tigers took him from the Twins in the Rule 5 draft heading into 2021 and Baddoo went on to have a nice season, slashing .259/.330/.436 for a 108 wRC+ while also stealing 18 bases. But his big league time since then has resulted in a .201/.288/.323 line and 74 wRC+.

He still produces on the farm, with a .250/.351/.433 line and 111 wRC+ in that 2022-25 window when he hasn’t been hitting in the majors. Given his speed, defensive acumen and remaining option year, it’s possible he finds interest elsewhere. DFA limbo can last as long as a week but the waiver process takes 48 hours, meaning the Tigers could explore trade interest for as long as five days.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images.

Tigers To Select Jahmai Jones

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The Tigers are going to select the contract of infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Infielder Andy Ibáñez has been optioned to Triple-A Toledo as the corresponding active roster move. Petzold suggests that outfielder Akil Baddoo could be designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot, though it’s unclear if that’s pure speculation or not.

Jones, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason. He has since been playing for Triple-A Toledo and putting up good numbers, with a .276/.392/.482 line and 139 wRC+. That’s at least partially inflated by a .345 batting average on balls in play but Jones also has six home runs and is drawing walks at a strong 11.7% clip while keeping his strikeouts down to a reasonable 22.4% level.

In addition to that strong work at the plate, Jones has stolen eight bases and bounced around the diamond. He has lined up defensively at all three outfield spots and second base. He hasn’t had any action at the infield corners this year but has done so previously in his career.

That’s a nice performance but the issue with Jones is that he has always performed well in the minors but hasn’t clicked in the majors yet. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has a .263/.382/.453 line and 122 wRC+ on the farm. In the majors, he has a far worse .198/.257/.278 line and 50 wRC+, though he’s only been allowed to make 137 total plate appearances scattered over several seasons dating back to 2020.

It’s possible the Tigers envision a short-side platoon role for Jones, a right-handed hitter. The Detroit outfield has three regular lefties in Riley Greene, Parker Meadows and Kerry Carpenter. They also have other lefties getting playing time, including Colt Keith, Zach McKinstry and Trey Sweeney. Though Jones hasn’t clicked in the majors overall, he has a .304/.360/.565 line against southpaws and has good numbers against them in the minors as well.

Jones is out of options, so he can’t be easily sent back down to the minors if the Tigers want to shake up the roster later. But if he manages to stick, he can be cheaply controlled for years to come as he doesn’t yet have enough service time to qualify for arbitration and won’t be able to get there by the end of this season.

Jones getting a roster spot will cost Ibáñez his. Ibáñez was claimed off waivers from the Rangers going into 2023 and has been a fixture of the Tigers since, but with diminishing production. He hit .264/.312/.433 for a 104 wRC+ in 2023, followed by .241/.295/.357 and an 87 wRC+ last year. So far in 2025, he’s down to .213/.292/.319 and a 77 wRC+. He’ll try to get back on track in Toledo. Once he spends 20 days on optional assignment, he’ll burn his final option year and will be out of options going into 2025.

Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images

Tigers Sign Jahmai Jones To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have signed infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones to a minor league deal, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. The ACES client will receive an invite to major league spring training and will make a salary of $810K if he cracks the big league roster.

The 27-year-old Jones was once a notable prospect but he hasn’t yet had an extended big league opportunity, despite generally performing well in the minors. He spent most of 2024 with the Yankees, though in a fairly limited role. They claimed him off waivers from the Brewers in February, but he had exhausted his option years and needed to remain on the roster. The Yanks kept him around for over four months but only gave him 47 plate appearances in that time. He was outrighted off the roster in early August.

Jones now has a poor .198/.257/.278 batting line in his big league career, though in 137 plate appearances scattered across four different seasons. After being outrighted by the Yanks, he produced a robust line of .304/.390/.490 in 34 Triple-A games, leading to a 131 wRC+. This gives him a line of .276/.408/.471 over 564 Triple-A plate appearances in the past two years.

He hasn’t been able to bring that kind of production to the majors yet, but there’s no harm in a minor league deal and he’s a sensible guy to take a shot on. He was a second-round pick of the Angels in 2015 and got some top 100 prospect love in the years after that. Despite the many years that have transpired since then, he is still fairly young and has continued to put up good numbers on the farm.

He would be a fine fit for just about any club on a minor league deal but he could be an especially good fit for the Tigers, since he’s a right-handed hitter who has mostly played second base and the outfield in his career. The Tigers have a lefty swinger at the keystone in Colt Keith while their outfield mix includes lefties Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows and Akil Baddoo. They also have Jace Jung likely to be at third, Trey Sweeney at shortstop and Zach McKinstry in a utility role, each of those three also being left-handed.

Perhaps there’s a path for Jones to serve as a right-handed complement to that group in a multi-positional role. If he eventually cracks the roster, he is out of options but has less than a year of service time, meaning he can be cheaply retained for future seasons as well.

Yankees Release J.D. Davis, Outright Jahmai Jones

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The Yankees announced that infielder J.D. Davis has been released while infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones has been sent outright to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Davis has already cleared waivers and is a free agent, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post on X.

Davis, 31, began his year by winning an arbitration hearing against the Giants, or so he thought. He was in line to make $6.9MM this year but the Giants released him after they signed Matt Chapman to take over their third base job.

Per the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, arbitration salaries are not guaranteed if the two sides go to a hearing, so the Giants only had to give Davis about $1.1MM in termination pay in letting him go. He landed with the A’s but only secured a $2.5MM guarantee on that deal.

With Oakland, he missed some time with a right adductor strain and hit a tepid .236/.304/.366 for a wRC+ of 96. He was flipped to the Yankees, who mostly kept him in a bench role, as Davis only got into seven games in over a month on the roster. He was designated for assignment when the Yanks acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. and the other 29 clubs evidently passed on the chance to grab Davis off waivers.

The Yanks will remain on the hook for what’s left of his salary, which is around $775K. Any other club could sign him for the prorated league minimum salary for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees pay. He hit .268/.352/.443 from 2019 to 2023 for a wRC+ of 120 and that past performance could perhaps intrigue some other clubs.

As for Jones, it’s a bit more surprising to see him go unclaimed. Roughly half the teams in the league have open 40-man roster spots in the wake of the trade deadline. Jones is not too far removed from being a notable prospect and has not yet qualified for arbitration, meaning he’s making a league minimum salary. He is out of options and would have needed an active roster spot with any claiming team, but could have been controlled for five additional seasons beyond this one.

He has hit just .198/.257/.278 in his major league career but without getting much of a chance, as he’s still never reached 75 plate appearances in a season. He was claimed by the Yankees back in February but was only sent to the plate 47 times in his stretch of about four months on the roster, getting designated for assignment when Giancarlo Stanton came off the injured list.

Prior to exhausting his option years, his work in the minors was strong. Over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, he took a walk in 15.2% of his plate appearances, only getting struck out 21.8% of the time. He hit a combined .254/.378/.441 in that time for a 114 wRC+. He also stole 25 bases in 34 tries while playing all three outfield spots, second base and even a bit of third base.

On top of that solid minor league work, he’s a former second-round pick who appeared on some top 100 prospect lists a few years ago, but he nonetheless went unclaimed on waivers. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency at this time. He’ll report to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for now but will qualify for minor league free agency at season’s end if he’s not added back to the roster.

Yankees Designate Jahmai Jones For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that have designated infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones for assignment and reinstated designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton from the injured list. Joel Sherman of The New York Post reported the moves on X prior to the official announcement.

Jones, 26, was claimed by the Yankees in February. Out of options, he has lasted on the roster through roughly two thirds of the season but didn’t get much playing time in his bench role. To this point, he has been sent to the plate 47 times while appearing in 33 contests. He hit .238/.304/.381 while striking out in 34% of his trips to the plate, lining up defensively at second base, third base and the outfield corners.

Throughout the year, the Yanks have welcomed DJ LeMahieu back from the IL and acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr., bolstering their position player mix and nudging Jones off the roster. They will now have just over 24 hours to explore trade talks but might end up putting Jones on waivers.

Jones may receive interest due to his previous prospect pedigree. He was a second-round pick of the Angels back in 2015 and subsequently got some top 100 love but he hasn’t really had much of a chance to prove himself at the major league level. The Angels added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2019 but Jones has only appeared in 69 MLB games over the past five seasons, bouncing to the Orioles, Brewers and Yankees.

But his work in the minors has continued to be impressive. Over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, he drew walks in 15.2% of his plate appearances, only striking out 21.8% of the time. He slashed a combined .254/.378/.441 in those seasons for a 114 wRC+. He also stole 25 bases in that time in 34 tries. He exhausted his final option year in 2023, which is why the Yankees haven’t been able to send him down this year.

Between his solid Triple-A offense, his past prospect pedigree and his defensive versatility, it’s possible that some club may give him a chance for the final few months of the season, likely a rebuilding club that has playing time to offer. He came into 2024 with less than a year of service time, meaning he can be retained for five seasons beyond this one if things click for him.

Yankees Claim Jahmai Jones, Designate Jordan Groshans

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The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones off waivers from the Brewers, who’d recently designated him for assignment. Fellow infielder Jordan Groshans has been designated for assignment in order to clear space on the 40-man roster.

A second-round pick by the Angels back in 2015, Jones is a former top-100 prospect who’s struggled in a trio of brief looks at the MLB level between Anaheim, Baltimore and Milwaukee. He’s taken just 90 turns at the plate in the big leagues and produced a .179/.233/.226 line with a dismal 36.7% strikeout rate.

The 26-year-old Jones is a more accomplished minor league hitter, however — as evidenced by a career .251/.377/.436 slash. He’s posted a far more manageable 21.9% strikeout rate at that level while also walking in a huge 15.4% of his 857 plate appearances. Jones has connected on 25 homers, swiped 25 bags and added 42 doubles and seven triples during his time in Triple-A. He’s a right-handed hitter who, in addition to more than 3400 career innings at second base, has logged nearly 1700 innings in center and more than 500 in left field.

Whether Jones sticks on the big league roster in New York is a fair question. He’s out of minor league options, meaning he can’t be sent to Triple-A Scranton without first passing through waivers. The Yanks could carry Jones on the bench in place of Oswald Peraza or Oswaldo Cabrera, opting to get either (likely Peraza) everyday playing time in the minors with a regular role not currently available on the big league roster. Alternatively, the Yankees might simply hope to turn around and pass Jones through waivers themselves, which would allow them to keep him on the Scranton roster as a depth piece who no longer commands a 40-man roster spot.

That same fate could await the 24-year-old Groshans. Like Jones, he’s a former top-100 prospect whose stock has dimmed in recent years. Groshans has just 65 MLB plate appearances and a .262/.308/.312 slash to show for it. His .253/.350/.322 output in 940 Triple-A plate appearances isn’t much better. He’s primarily played on the left side of the infield, splitting time in near even fashion between shortstop and third base, but Groshans does have more limited experience at second base (76 innings) and first base (396 innings) as well.

Groshans does have a minor league option year remaining, which could make him appealing to another club via waiver claim or minor trade. The Yankees will have a week to find a trade partner or complete the process of passing him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, Groshans could be assigned outright to Triple-A and retained as a non-roster depth option. He lacks the major league service time and prior outright assignment to reject an outright from New York.

Brewers Designate Jahmai Jones For Assignment

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The Brewers have designated infielder/outfielder Jahmai Jones for assignment, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. His roster spot will go to right-hander Brandon Woodruff, whose previously-reported signing is now official.

Jones, 26, signed with the Brewers in July of last year. He spent most of the rest of the season on optional assignment, only getting into seven big league games, hitting .200/.273/.300 in those. He exhausted his final option year in the process and is now out of options, which was going to make it challenging for him to hang onto a roster spot going forward.

A second-round pick of the Angels back in 2015, Jones was once a top 100 prospect but has generally struggled to take his strong minor league work up to the majors. He got a brief cup of coffee with the Halos in 2020 before being dealt to the Orioles for Alex Cobb in February of 2021. He got into 26 games as an Oriole in 2021 but then required Tommy John surgery in May of 2022. He was later designated for assignment and released, as injured players can’t be put on outright waivers. That led to a two-year minor league deal with the Dodgers, though he opted out of that pact last summer before signing with the Brewers.

Amid all those jersey swaps, he’s hit .179/.233/.226 in a tiny sample of 90 plate appearances in the big leagues. But he’s been much more impressive on the farm, hitting .254/.378/.441 over the past three years. That includes a line of .268/.413/.466 last year between the systems of the Dodgers and Brewers, drawing walks in 18.7% of his plate appearances while only striking out in 21.8% of them. That production was 22% better than league average by measure of wRC+.

Jones also stole 12 bases in the minors last year and lined up defensively at second base, third base and the outfield corners. His time at third was minimal, just nine innings, but he’s also played center field in previous seasons.

The Brewers will have one week to trade Jones or try to pass him through waivers. He could garner interest based on his past prospect pedigree, strong offense in the minors and defensive versatility. However, since he is now out of options, he’ll have less roster flexibility going forward.

NL Central Notes: McCutchen, Anderson, Swanson

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The Pirates announced this morning that they had activated veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Rodolfo Castro was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

McCutchen’s return should help to boost a Pirates offense that desperately needs a spark. After a hot 20-8 start to open the season, the club has cratered to a 41-51 record that puts in fourth place in the NL Central, 9.5 games back of the division-leading Brewers. That free-fall in the standings can be primarily attributed to an offense that ranks dead last in the majors since May 1 with a wRC+ of just 79, 21% below league average. As the team’s offense has slumped, McCutchen has maintained solid production with a .275/.399/.398 slash line in 208 plate appearances since the start of May.

While McCutchen’s steady veteran presence and an injection of youth from the likes of Henry Davis and Nick Gonzales have helped to steady the club’s offense somewhat, the Pirates will need improved performance from star outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who has slashed just .150/.209/.250 since returning from low back inflammation earlier this month. That performance has dropped his drop his wRC+ to just 109 this season, a far cry from the 133 wRC+ he offered the past two seasons.

More from around the NL Central…

  • The Brewers announced today that they had placed third baseman Brian Anderson on the 10-day IL with a low back strain. It’s been a difficult season for Anderson as the 30 year old has slashed just .229/.317/.373 with a wRC+ of 90 in 85 games this season while acting as Milwaukee’s primary third baseman. Replacing Anderson on the roster is infielder Jahmai Jones, who kicked his Brewers career off by going 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base in five trips to the plate after signing with the club on a major league deal earlier this month. Infielder Andruw Monasterio figures to handle the hot corner while Anderson is on the shelf, with Jones sliding into Monasterio’s typical utility role.
  • Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson is eligible to come off the IL for the first time today after suffering a left heel contusion just before the All-Star break. That being said, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma relays that manager David Ross expects Swanson to be out for a least a little while longer. According to Ross, while Swanson’s heel improved over the break, he still is feeling “some pain” when running the bases. While Swanson is on the shelf, Nico Hoerner has slid from second base to shortstop, opening up the keystone for Christopher Morel.

Brewers Sign Jahmai Jones

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The Brewers announced Monday that they’ve signed infielder Jahmai Jones and added him directly to their 26-man Major League roster for today’s game. Infielder/outfielder Brian Anderson was placed on the paternity list in a corresponding roster move. Milwaukee already had an open spot on the 40-man roster. Jones, an ACES client, opted out of a minor league contract with the Dodgers over the weekend.

Jones, 26 next month, was a second-round pick by the Angels back in 2015 and long rated as one of the Halos’ best prospects, even cracking most top-100 lists heading into the 2018 season. He’s only logged 29 games in the big leagues to this point, hitting just .176/.228/.216 in 79 trips to the plate during that tiny sample, most of which came with the 2021 Orioles.

Struggles in that small collection of big league games notwithstanding, Jones has a strong Triple-A track record, including an excellent .293/.428/.543 slash in 263 plate appearances with the Dodgers’ top affiliate in 2023. He’s clubbed nine homers, connected on 20 doubles and added three triples this season, walking at a massive 17.5% clip against a 20.9% strikeout rate.

Jones has primarily played second base in his professional career, but he does have nearly 1700 innings of experience in center field and another 369 frames in left field, so he could have some utility appeal for the Brewers in the short-term. Owen Miller has played first base, second base and third base for the Brewers this season, and he’ll likely step in at the hot corner while Anderson is on the paternity list for up to three days. Jones could be an option there as well, though he has just nine innings at third base since being drafted.

Jahmai Jones Opts Out Of Minors Deal With Dodgers

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Infielder Jahmai Jones has opted out of minor league deal with the Dodgers and been released by the club, according to Oklahoma City Dodgers communications director Alex Freedman on Twitter.

Jones, 25, was a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport back in 2018, though he fell off prospect lists after struggling to a .176/.228/.216 slash line over his first 79 plate appearances at the big league level. Originally drafted by the Angels in the second round of the 2015 draft, Jones made a brief debut with the club during the shortened 2020 campaign before he was swapped to Baltimore in the trade that sent Alex Cobb to Anaheim. He struggled in a cup of coffee with the Orioles during 2021 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2022, a procedure that was shortly followed by the Orioles designating Jones for assignment.

Jones then latched on with the Dodgers on a two-year minor league deal in August, a move that allowed the young infielder to rehab with the club and gave LA a former top prospect who could serve as infield depth at the Triple-A level in 2023. Following his return to professional games, Jones posted excellent numbers in 62 games at the Triple-A level this season. He slashed .292/.427/.524 with a 17.5% walk rate against a 20.9% strikeout rate, production good for a well above average 134 wRC+ even in the heightened offensive environment of Triple-A’s Pacific Coast League.

Despite that performance from Jones and a need in the infield at various points this season, the Dodgers have opted to give youngsters like Miguel Vargas, Michael Busch, and Yonny Hernandez looks on the club’s roster rather than clear space on the 40-man roster for Jones. Given this, it’s hardly a surprise Jones decided to exercise his opt-out clause and test free agency.

Going forward, Jones seems likely to attract considerable interest given his strong 2023 numbers, youth, and former top prospect status. Jones has almost exclusively played second base to this point in the season, but also has experience at third base and in all three outfield spots throughout his minor league career, meaning he could serve as useful position player depth for virtually any club at the Triple-A level.

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