The Mets have been searching for the right position for JD
Davis for quite some time. It has probably been a topic that has been discussed
by fans at a local barbershop, tavern or a diner during lunch time. Even though
Davis had a good season with his bat in 2019 it is difficult for the Mets to
know where he fits into the team’s plans defensively. The Mets, eventually will
make a decision sooner or later. Davis has been a good sport about this
situation and would be willing to help the team out whatever they decide.
To this day, I still can’t believe the Astros gave up on
Davis too soon. Since he led the Pacific Coast League in batting, they only
gave him one season to see what he can do. In my opinion, when you have a player
that can hit and win a batting title you have to show more patience.
The Yankees
made the same mistake with Ben Gamel, who won the Rookie of the Year and MVP
Awards in the International League. They traded him after only letting him play
six games in the Major Leagues in 2016.
Davis played left field more than third base and wasn’t
comfortable at either position and was replaced late in games, however when
Cano will need time off, McNeil can play second and Davis can play third. Davis
will also compete with Smith for playing time in left field.
If Conforto needs some time off Davis can play in right
field since he did during spring training when Conforto got injured. Davis played
a little right field in college, but he was mostly a DH. He played a little
right field in the minors across various Houston affiliates. When Cespedes is
ready to play it would make the outfield picture more interesting.
Since Davis hit 22 home runs along with 57 RBI’s with the Mets,
he can be a valuable trade chip just in case the Mets decide to make a trade to
most likely an American League team, such as the Cleveland Indians, who can use
more hitting. Davis can be a DH with them. If they decide to keep Davis it
still would be good to have the depth around the team.
In other sports news, the football world was saddened that Hall
of Fame coaching legend Don Shula has died at the age of 90. Deepest thoughts
and prayers go out to his family.
8 comments:
The Mets really got a good one in JD Davis.
Maybe the stacked Astros figured his fielding was weak and made him expendable. We benefited from their misjudgment.
Don't the Astros have a DH in their league?
From 1980-1984, I was the Sales Manager of sports sales for the Eagles (WIP), Steelers (WTAE) and Giants (WNEW).
In my book, Shula is still the greatest coach in NFL history.
Houston had a real offense surplus. First in MLB average, 288 homers, and just 23 runs from the top team in scoring. We got the overflow.
Yordan Alvarez did a lot of their DH work in 2020. JD Davis is not, apparently, the hitter that Alvarez is.
Isn't it interesting to see other teams embracing Cuban stars right from the outset, but the Mets are only interested in them after they become expensive on someone else's payroll?
Not all Cuban players make it. The Mets tried and failed with Jorge Toca and Alay Solar. They did hit with Rey Ordonez before he got hurt.
Acquiring Davis was one of the better deals for the Mets.
Alvarez did hit well.
Shula was a legend and that Dolphins perfect season was one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history.
The story of J.D. Davis as a fielder is getting absurd. It seems to get worse with each retelling. Of course, he is inexperienced in the outfield and needs improvement at 3rd base. So have many others who eventually became good. The guy is an athlete with enough eye-hand coordination to be a fine hitter. This tells me that, with enough coaching and repetition, he can be good at both positions.
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