Just ahead of the Subway Series, the Yankees have landed an ex-Met to bolster their beat-up lineup.
The club acquired infielder J.D. Davis and cash considerations from the Athletics on Sunday in exchange for infielder Jordan Groshans.
Davis, who played for the Mets from 2019-2022, had been designated for assignment last week by the A’s but is expected to join the Yankees on Tuesday at Citi Field.
The 31-year-old Davis, a right-handed hitter, offers a more proven bat for the Yankees while they deal with injury absences to Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo.
He is expected to platoon at first base with the left-handed hitting Ben Rice while also getting action at DH.
“Hopefully [he can] come here and give us a little spark, especially to get him in there against left-handed pitching,” manager Aaron Boone said after a 3-1 loss to the Braves. “He’s hit left-handed pitching well over the last couple years. Hopefully, where we are, a couple injuries down, hopefully he can give us a little shot in the arm and be a piece to us winning some games.”
In his career, Davis has hit .258 with a .779 OPS against lefties.
Oswald Peraza had been called up on Sunday from Triple-A when Stanton landed on the IL with a hamstring strain, but he was optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game to make room for Davis.
A career .259 hitter with a 112 OPS-plus in 633 games, Davis batted .236 with a .670 OPS in 135 plate appearances for the A’s, but was starting to hit better (.275 with a .727 OPS in his last 24 games) before being DFA’d.
“He could figure into the third-base mix, but I plan on playing him at first a little bit,” Boone said. “Now the DH has opened up, so I can get creative there too.”
The Yankees were expected to explore addressing the corner infield spots ahead of the trade deadline, but this gives them a jump-start in seeing what Davis can give them.
To make room for Davis on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred Nick Burdi (right hip inflammation) to the 60-day IL, ensuring the reliever will be out until at least late July.
Groshans, a February waiver claim who stuck with the Yankees after they DFA’d him during spring training, was batting .232 with a .590 OPS in 50 games between Double-A and Triple-A.
Jon Berti was on the field early Sunday morning to do some light agility drills and then play catch. The utilityman has been out since the last week of May with a calf strain that he said would take six to eight weeks to come back from.
Scott Effross (Tommy John/back surgery) made his second rehab appearance on Sunday with Single-A Tampa, throwing two scoreless innings on 26 pitches.