Tampa Bay Rays: Five options to upgrade the lineup

Matt Davidson

OK, so as a substitute for Cruz this would be dumb, but I just really want a team to pick up Matt Davidson. He’d be so cheap that you could pick up Davidson as well as any of the guys above and it wouldn’t even be an additional drop in the payroll bucket.

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Most of this is because he seems kind of dedicated to trying to be a two way player next year, and I’d love for him to get the chance. Wasn’t this fun?

As a batter Davidson projects to hit around 20 home runs next year while slashing .229/.299/.423, which isn’t going to cut it as far as being an impact player on offense. Those projections are in 492 plate appearances, so it’s possible that he could be a 30+ home run guy if given the chance to be an every day player (which is a chance he probably shouldn’t get).

So again, he can’t be the only move. But he could be a move. His fastball is in the low 90s, which is ridiculous for a position player, and his breaking ball drops down to the low 70s which is a pretty good differential.

All I’m saying is pick him up for a minor league contract and see what happens. Could be fun, and a two way player would be a great way to draw some Tampa Bay Rays fans out of the woodwork.