The Oakland Athletics have signed third baseman J.D. Davis of Elk Grove, California to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million according to Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors. The Athletics will be Davis’s fourth Major League Baseball team following two seasons with the Houston Astros (2017 and 2018), four seasons with the New York Mets (2019 to 2022), and two seasons with the San Francisco Giants (2022 and 2023).
2023 with the Giants
Davis batted .248 with 18 home runs and 69 runs batted in. During 144 games, 480 at bats, and 546 plate appearances, he scored 61 runs, and had 119 hits, 23 doubles, one triple, one stolen base, 52 walks, 198 total bases, six sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .325, and a slugging percentage of .413. Davis’s stolen base came in a 14-4 Giants win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 29, and his triple came in a 6-4 Giants win over Colorado Rockies on June 8.
Giants Committing to Matt Chapman
The Giants released Davis on March 11. The release was not a huge surprise because the Giants showed commitment to Matt Chapman of Victorville, California on March 3 with a three-year deal worth $54 million. One has to question Giants management however. There is no doubt that Chapman is a strong defensive third baseman, but from an offensive perspective, the statistics for Chapman and Davis were comparable. Davis was actually eight percentage points better than Chapman when it came to batting average. Davis was at .248, while Chapman was at .240. Davis actually also hit one more home run (18) compared to 17 for Chapman, and had 15 more runs batted in. Davis had 69 runs batted in compared to only 54 for Chapman.
Staying in the Bay Area
Davis stays in northern California and will join an Athletics team this season with low expectations. It appears this could be the final season the Oakland Athletics are in Oakland, as the franchise is set to move to Las Vegas.
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