The Yankees announced Thursday afternoon that they have acquired infielder J.D. Davis and financial considerations from the Athletics in exchange for infielder Jordan Groshans. Davis had been designated for assignment by the Athletics earlier this week. The Yankees transferred right-hander Nick Burdi to the 60-day injured list in order to make room for Davis on the 40-man roster.
Davis, 31, signed with the A’s in late spring after the Giants released him during spring training in order to avoid paying the majority of the $6.9 million salary he was granted in arbitration over the winter. He was able to win a guarantee of only $2.5 million from Oakland, which is a far cry from his previously awarded arbitration compensation, even after accounting for the approximately $1.1 million in termination pay he earned from San Francisco.
Following the late-spring dispute, Davis went on to appear in 39 games for the A’s, where he sliced an approximately league average.236/.304/.366 in 135 plate appearances, spending time between first base, third base, and designated hitter.
While Davis’ offensive numbers this season are below par, his positional versatility and track record as an above-average hitter make him an ideal fit for the Yankees’ present requirements. The club lost starting DH Giancarlo Stanton to the injured list earlier today, while first baseman Anthony Rizzo was also placed on the shelf recently due to a fractured forearm.
Rookie Ben Rice has struggled in his first few games replacing Rizzo at first base, and the club has no obvious replacement for Stanton as an everyday DH in-house. Even at third base, where the club is now reliant on Oswaldo Cabrera and DJ LeMahieu, the club has a wRC+ of 78, which is second-worst in the AL, trailing only the White Sox.
Enter Davis, who started the 2024 season having spent five consecutive seasons as an above-average hitter with the Mets and Giants. Davis has a wRC+ of 118 and a.265/.349/.438 batting line since the start of the 2019 season.
While striking out 27.1% of the time, he has walked at a healthy 10% rate and hit 20 home runs. That sort of production would be a big gain for a Yankees squad that has usually struggled to produce offense outside of the outfield this year even before losing Stanton for at least the short-term.
Davis seems poised to fall into the everyday DH role for the Yankees while Stanton is unavailable, but could also spell Rice at first base against left-handed pitching and even contribute at third alongside LeMahieu and Cabrera.
On days when Davis is playing infield, the Yankees could give Aaron Judge or Juan Soto a half-day off as DH and strengthen the team’s outfield defence by inserting glove-first centre fielder Trent Grisham into the lineup. When Stanton eventually returns to take regular at-bats at DH, the Yankees will likely decide how to proceed based on how Davis, Rice, Cabrera, and LeMahieu have performed in their current roles to date.
That being said, if Davis can maintain his production as an Athletic in the Bronx, he should be a lock for at least some regular playing time in the Yankees’ infield even after Stanton’s eventual return.
In return for Davis, the Yankees will trade Groshans to Oakland. The 24-year-old’s time in the Yankees organization was brief, as the team claimed him off waivers from the Marlins in February.
He was dropped from their 40-man roster in early March and has struggled to this point in the 2024 season, posting a.232/.310/.281 slash line while playing all four infield positions in 50 games split between Double- and Triple-A. That follows a similarly poor performance at Triple-A Miami last year; in 528 plate appearances across 125 games in 2023, Groshans hit.244/.339/.330 with only six home runs.
Despite Groshan’s struggles over the last two seasons, it’s easy to see why the A’s would want to give the youngster a chance. After all, the infielder was the Blue Jays’ 12th overall pick in the 2018 draft and has garnered plenty of top prospect attention throughout his career, including a period as a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport in 2021.
That background, combined with Groshans’ higher stats at the Double-A level earlier in his career, gives cause to believe that the youngster will be able to contribute in the majors at some point. That potential is undoubtedly appealing to an Oakland team that has failed to find a regular option at third base this season, with Davis, Abraham Toro, and Tyler Nevin rotating in.
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