The Mets‘ offseason has been full of storylines, but perhaps the most unexpected one began to unfold in December when top prospect and projected starting third baseman Ronny Mauricio suffered a torn ACL during a Dominican Winter League game.
Since Mauricio’s injury, the blue and orange have been linked with nearly every option on the free-agent market.
Despite being linked with so many different players, none of them ended up putting ink on paper except for Joey Wendle, who is more of a utility player than a primary third baseman and got signed before the Mauricio injury.
With the majority of the enticing players already signed with other franchises, it appeared that Brett Baty and Mark Vientos would continue to battle it out for the starting spot without any additional competition until the San Francisco Giants placed a former Met on the waiver wire: J.D. Davis.
Davis’ credentials
Davis began his career with the Houston Astros organization after being selected in the third round of the 2014 MLB Draft.
After working his way through the Astros minor-league system, Davis had a cup of coffee in the major leagues during the 2017 and 2018 seasons before being traded to the Mets alongside Cody Bohanek for a trio of prospects.
In 66 games with the Astros, the California native slashed .194/.260/.321 with five home runs and 12 RBIs.
For the first time in his career, Davis received sustained playing time and took full advantage, developing into a solid everyday player.
Davis spent the course of four seasons donning the blue and orange, appearing in 335 games and slashing .278/.364/.451 with 37 home runs and 120 RBIs before finding himself the odd-man out during the 2022 campaign and being sent to the San Francisco Giants in the infamous Darin Ruf trade.
The California native spent the remainder of 2022 and all of 2023 playing in the Bay Area, appearing in 193 games while slashing .251/.333/.431 with 26 home runs and 83 RBIs before again finding himself the odd man out after the Giants signed Matt Chapman, resulting in the 30-year-old being placed on waivers.
Would the Mets reuniting with Davis make sense?
A Davis reunion would make sense for the blue and orange.
Bringing back Davis would allow the Mets another option at designated hitter, which currently seems to be a battle between Ji-man Choi and Luke Voit, both of whom have struggled at the big league level in recent years.
The 30-year-old would also provide insurance at third base in case the winner of the Baty and Vientos competition falters and needs to be sent back to Triple-A Syracuse for some more seasoning.
Davis has also shown that he can handle the pressure of New York, which is a big plus when considering an addition to a young transitional team.
In addition, Davis is on a one-year deal, so if the California native has a massive first half, he could be shipped at the deadline for a haul of prospects.
Time will tell if the Mets and Davis reunite, but it makes perfect sense for them to do so.