Third Time The Charm For Eric Davis?
Mar 20, 2022 11:18:26 GMT -5
dougiejays and marlinsgm like this
Post by dougiejays on Mar 20, 2022 11:18:26 GMT -5
You might be excused if you do a double-take when you turn on the TV to watch the Jays play the A’s at Oakland Coliseum on Monday night. Is that – no it can’t be – Eric Davis? Again?!
Yes, he’s back, folks – back again.
The Blue Jays acquired Davis for the third time at the trade deadline, picking up the infielder along with two young relievers for 29-year-old minor league lefty Roberto Rivera, who appears to be simply functioning as a conduit for salary dumps at this point, having just last week been acquired in the sale of Roger Pavlik to the Phillies.
The Jays first acquired Davis all the way back in 1983, when he was a 21-year-old top prospect still plying his trade in AAA. He eventually made his big league debut in 1986 and stuck with the Jays for nearly six years, ultimately finding himself shipped out at midseason in ’91 when the Jays couldn’t come to terms with him on a contract extension.
After stops in Texas, St Louis, Texas again, and then Minnesota, Davis was reacquired by the Jays in July of ‘95 for a short half-season stint – but yet again, the two sides couldn’t come to terms on an extension, and he walked at the end of the year.
He wound up signing with Florida, where he put up two solid seasons before struggling this year and being sent packing by the cost-cutting Marlins.
This time around, there will likely be no talk of extensions; the Jays have brought in the 36-year-old Davis to be a part-time shortstop, elite pinch-runner and clubhouse mentor for a veteran squad that has World Series aspirations. The deal actually appears to be as much about the two prospects as anything else – Mike Koplove and Tim Young. Neither are likely to show up on any top prospects list, but both are young, upside-y relievers that should help add depth to a system that is extremely depleted after a few recent trades.
It appears to be reunion season in Toronto. First the Jays brought in Jose Canseco in April, who like Davis was a former top prospect who moved from Boston to Toronto in the ‘80s (though he was ultimately moved along before making his big league debut); then in May they brought back shortstop Mike Brown, who was ironically one of the pieces traded for Davis in that midseason ’95 deal; and now they bring back Davis himself.
