According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, J.D. Davis was released by the New York Yankees on Friday. After being DFA’d by the Yankees on Sunday following their acquisition of Jazz Chisholm Jr., Davis entered waivers unclaimed. He plans to sign a free agent contract with the hopes of joining a different organization. This season, in 157 plate appearances, Davis’ slash line was.218/.298/.338. Over his seven games with New York, he batted.105 with one RBI and nine strikeouts.
Utility player Jahmai Jones has been moved to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in another move.
Davis started the season by winning an arbitration case against the San Francisco Giants, securing a $6.9 million salary. However, after the Giants signed Matt Chapman to play third base, they released Davis. He then joined the Oakland Athletics but missed time due to a right adductor strain and struggled with a .236/.304/.366 batting line. The Yankees later acquired him and used him in a bench role, with the team responsible for the remaining $775,000 of his salary.
Jones, out of options, must be on the active roster for any claiming team, though he comes with five more seasons of club control. His major league career batting average is .198/.257/.278, with fewer than 75 plate appearances in any season. After being claimed by the Yankees in the offseason, he had only 47 plate appearances over four months before being designated for assignment when Giancarlo Stanton returned from injury. Despite this, Jones impressed in the minors from 2021-23, hitting .254/.378/.441, stealing 25 bases in 34 attempts, walking in 15.2 percent of plate appearances, and striking out at a 21.8 percent rate. Given his Triple-A performance and versatility, another team might take a chance on him.
