Scouting the New York Mets Houston Astros J.D. Davis trade
The New York Mets made another deal this weekend, and this one has all players that are technically prospects. Let’s take a look at them.
The New York Mets and Houston Astros made a five-player trade on Sunday that sent J.D. Davis and Cody Bohanek to New York for Luis Santana, Ross Adolph, and Scott Manea. Those names may not be exactly household guys, so let’s take a look at each, starting with the Mets side of things.
J.D. Davis
Davis is the key player of this deal for the Mets, though not the best player in the deal in my personal opinion, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
One of the best college players in the nation in his draft year, Davis was drafted by the Houston Astros from Cal State-Fullerton in the 3rd round. He was a talented two-way player in college, hitting .338/.419/.523 with 27 extra bases over 58 games as a hitter and working as the closer, striking out 22 over 20 innings.
Davis has been an excellent hitter in the minor leagues, putting up a .282/.362/.521 line in the minors with 105 home runs over 5 seasons. He’s primarily played third base in the minor leagues, but he does have experience in the outfield corners and first base.
Over the last two seasons, Davis has received 67 games of playing time with the Astros at the big league level (along with 3 relief pitching appearances). He’s hit just .194/.260/.321 with 5 home runs in 181 plate appearances, striking out at a 27% clip.
While Davis is seen by many as a good power gamble for the Mets, for me, he’s not worth the package of players that were sent to Houston for him. While his raw power is certainly plus, if not double-plus, and he has a double-plus arm. He’s not a bad athlete, but he’s a below-average defender at third if he’s asked to be there too much.
Davis will likely be expected to be an additional bat off of the bench for the Mets, essentially replacing Wilmer Flores…with the added bonus of the ability to hop on the mound.
Now let’s look at the prospects in the 5-player deal, beginning with the other player going to the Mets, Cody Bohanek.