MLB TRADE: Yankees Acquire Former Mets Infielder

If the New York Yankees have had a weakness this season, it's been on the corners in the infield. They made a move to remedy that somewhat on Sunday, trading with the Oakland A's for JD Davis.

Yankees trade for JD Davis pic.twitter.com/Ch5tTr1C0p
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 23, 2024

The A's had designated the 31-year-old for assignment last week.

The move makes sense for the Yankees who had been posting a 78 OPS+ at third, and an 86 OPS+ at first, Davis's other position. 1B Anthony Rizzo suffered a broken arm last week and rookie Ben Rice had been manning the spot, batting .214 entering Sunday’s games. The former NY Mets corner man wasn't off to a great start with the A's this season, with a 96 OPS+, but he owns a 112 OPS+ mark for his career. He popped 18 homers for the San Francisco Giants last season, and had four longballs in 39 games with Oakland.

Davis had a couple of nice offensive seasons with the Mets earlier in his career, and joins the Bronx Bombers just in time to face his old crosstown team at Citi Field on Tuesday. He'll likely go into a left-right platoon at first base with Rice, and should get the start on Tuesday.

In return, the Yanks send former highly-regarded prospect Jordan Groshans to Oakland. The 24-year-old has played this season at Double-A and Triple-A where, in 50 games, he was slashing .232/.310/.280. He was a first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2018 where he was high atop their prospects list. But his star has fallen, and he's now been traded three times.