The Yankees announced that they have claimed infielder Jeter Downs off waivers from the Nationals. The infielder was designated for assignment a week ago when the Nats signed right-hander Dylan Floro.
Downs, 25, was once a prospect of note, having been selected 32nd overall by the Reds in 2017 and later appearing on top 100 lists. His time as a minor leaguer saw him change organizations twice as part of a major trade, first going to the Dodgers in a seven-player swap and then to the Red Sox in the deal for Mookie Betts and David Price. The Yankees now have two of the three players that went to Boston in that deal, having acquired Alex Verdugo earlier this month and leaving the Sox with just Connor Wong.
But as for Downs, he hasn’t yet delivered on that prospect hype. In 963 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, he has hit just .200/.309/.365 for a wRC+ of 80. Due to that performance, he’s been allowed to make just 50 trips to the plate at the major league level, with a slash of just .182/.260/.273 in those. The Sox put him on waivers prior to 2023, with the Nats putting in a claim but now letting him go via the same door he came in.
Despite that tepid offensive production, there’s little harm in the Yankees putting in a claim. They had three open roster spots to work with, as this claim brings their 40-man count to 38. Downs still has an option, meaning he can be stashed in the minors as depth for the upcoming season, if he sticks on the 40-man for that long. It’s also worth pointing out that he’s still young and could perhaps turn the narrative of his career around.
The Yanks are currently slated to have an infield of DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo with Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera in the mix for bench/utility roles. Downs has played all three infield spots to the left of first base and even had a brief stint in center field this year, allowing him to provide some depth at various spots.
Destiny
…is all.
Well said, Uhtred.
Is it the son of Uhtred? Or another Uhtred?
Here come the jokes about Jeter playing for the Yankees again. Truthfully, the old man has a better chance of putting on his NYY #2 again than Downs does.
@trout
At the very least, he needs to explode from April 8-10 so we can say he owns the Marlins.
I hope he’s not standing next to anyone when he explodes. 😉
And all was right in the world.
Would he have had a better career if he changed his name to Peter Poundz?? Lol
If this guy’s first name was Joe, he’d be bagging groceries by now.
If is name is Jeter he can’t be that bad.
Til he puts a glove on….
All they need now is Connor Wong for the full Mookie Betts return
Steve – the Yankees would also need the $46 million the Dodgers gave the Red Sox to pay for half of David Price’s contract.
Nope. The red sox gave the dodgers 48 millions for Prices contract. Nice try though.
Jcl- the Red Sox owed $96,000,000 to David Price, but only had to pay half! Their net was a $48,000,000 savings, so use whatever phonetics you want, but the net saves to the Red Sox was $48,000,000. Eat that smart a$$.
@JC#1
That’s not how it works. When a team trades a player, his contract goes with him. Therefore the Dodgers would be paying all 96 million of prices contract. The RED SOX were the ones that sent 48 million to the Dodgers to help pay the contract. I know its tricky sometimes, but maybe next time you could do some research before making a dumba$$ comment…
now all we need to do is pickup Connor Wong and we can trade him, Downs & Verdugo for Mookie Betts!!!!
I can’t believe any team would ever be dumb enough to make that trade.
To be fair Verdugo and Downs stock was way up at the time
And Dodgers picked up a bad David Price contract that Boston paid half of, that lowered the ask for Betts. But Dodgers clearly got the better end of that trade. Downs was a great pickup from Reds and flip. That’s how you maximize value acquiring/trading prospects. Dodgers also sold high on Verdugo who had some potential but never materialized to anything more than a slightly above average player.
Except for the fact that Price was still useful and his contract didn’t become truly bad til post him opting out of 2020. He was traded in 20q9.
Not really. Price was very irrelevant as a Dodger. He was primarily a low leverage bullpen option or opener. Some spot starts late in season during irrelevant part of season.
At the time of the trade he was not irrelevant. Again he was still useful at time of trade. 2019 was the one time in 15 years he had an ERA above 4. After the trade he opted out of 2020 and was never a very effective pitcher again.
Just because in hindsight he provided no value, that dies not make it so at time of trade.
I think we all knew why the Red Sox were including him as part of the deal and willing to pay half the bill. He was not even close to being worth half the $32mm per year that the Dodgers were paying him. He was clearly included for the Sox to dump his salary and for the Dodgers to lower the ask of prospect quality. Good guy but the Dodgers did not need him whatsoever even before the opt out.
Pretty evident that he was not the same pitcher with the Red Sox. It was not just 2019. He was nothing close to prior part of his career. Hits, walks and HRs allowed per 9 all up meaningfully while with the Red Sox.
My first reaction when learning he was part of the deal was why? And very concerned that the Dodgers had to pick up any part of that bad contract. Was somewhat relieved that it was “only” half the bill but clearly knew that Price was not close to being worth $16mm per year.
You were concerned that billionaires who don’t give two craps about the luxury tax picked up a big chunk of his the salary?
Teams are very much concerned how they spend their money. Ever wonder how these billionaires became billionaires? Certainly not by taking losses and running their teams to the ground financially.
Concerned because that prevents the team from addressing others needs financially. I’m so tired of these dumb posts. Smart teams allocate how much money they can spend. It’s not infinite Monopoly money. Allocating $16mm to Price prevented the Dodgers from spending $16mm elsewhere to address bullpen, additional bats, back half of rotation.
That was hardly conclusive. Price 2017-2019 put up 6.8 bWAR, a 3.82 FIP, 3.75 ERA, averaging 12o ip / season, and a 122 ERA+.
Put up a 122 ERA+ long enough and the have to think long and hard about your HOF application.
Price was clearly in decline but he’d just put up a career peak for K/9 with a 3.62 FIP. He was a fair bet to continue on as an often hurt, very good SP.
Oh those penny-pinching billionaires, who got there by the dint of their coupon clipping!
Bravo, World of Merit!!
More dumb comments. All teams big or small market teams are limited in what they can spend. Or else they would acquire/re-sign every player possible by throwing money at them. Would Seager have walked away? Justin Turner? Jansen?
You conveniently leave out 2016. That’s 39% of his innings pitched while a Red Sox. The peripherals were not great as a Red Sox in total. Much lower than his great seasons in TB, Detroit, Toronto. Not once was he considered a Cy Young candidate while a Red Sox, or even made the AS team.
It was just a natural progression of age decline for Price, and let’s face it he was not just joining any pitching staff. Dodgers had a loaded staff in 2020, with lots of young pitchers. Price was in doubt of even making the rotation in 2020 before the opt-out. How can you justify even paying him $16mm for a lower leverage bullpen spot?
Yes, how much trade value could a 24 year old who has already proven his peak-level hit tool at the MLB level (.294 BA the previous year) and yet still come with a full 5 years of control have? Oh, wait, trades are as much about factoring in things like cost and control as they are about the level of play of the players. It isn’t “Betts for Verdugo” but rather “one year of Betts at a very high salary for five inexpensive seasons of Verdugo plus a quality pure prospect and an extra piece thrown in”?
Ah, but that would be the measured perspective that we used to get in 1990s and 2000s sorts of sports analysis. In today’s clickbait media in which disingenuous analysis that whips up emotions is the norm, it’s definitely better to just say “Betts for Verdugo and parts, what idiots!!!”
Sure, there is value for a player with control at a cheap rate but overall Verdugo was a disappointment. The thought process was that he was going to turn into a very good hitter with some added pop. But that added pop never materialized. Downs was the biggest disappointment. He quickly rose in trade value and the Dodgers unloaded him at the perfect time. But part of it too was dumping Price’s contract. So, if the Red Sox had any doubts about Mookie re-signing they at least got something in Verdugo and dumped half of Price’s salary.
When a team takes on $48M, the prospect return is less.
canyon of heroes, world series parade, here we come.
He must be thrilled.
Just don’t call him Derek!
This makes me happy. Even if it’s never happening for the kid (I hope it does!), it’s cool that the Yankees are bringing him in for obvious reasons.
What’s the obvious reason? It’s not because of his name.
It is, I think he was named after the great overrated one.
They aren’t signing players because they like his name. Try again.
Obviously it is, lol. I mean, the kid is named after Jeter, so it’s cool to see it happen even if NYY did for baseball reasons.
They aren’t signing players because they like his name. Try again.
You sound fun. I *said* it’s cool they are bringing him in because of the Jeter connection, not because that’s exactly why. “Obvious” though because of that, yes. Also you can’t honestly think that no one in Cash’s office thought, “hey you know what would be neat gesture…”, you know because humans hire humans, not robots.
Please don’t feed the trolls
Give me a break. They brought him him for the same reason they bring in any other player.
He’s actually named after his great grandfather. Just kidding.
He’s actually named after Michael Jeter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jeter
No, but it adds to the hype and GMs are not immune
Yup, because like I said above, humans hire humans. It’s a nice story.
I’ll look forward to the day to see him pinch-hitting with Verdugo on second against the RS at Fenway with Connor Wong catching.
The Yankees are in trouble if Downs is on the major league roster.
I didn’t state where they would be in the standings. Hopefully not battling for last place again for both our sakes!
Trade him and Verdugo for Mookie Betts!!!!
Hilarious
Or be like the Angels and just let Ohtani walk for nothing.
Must be a surreal dream come true. Named after Jeter, will probably play shortstop for the Yankees, too. Pretty amazing- regardless of how it ultimately works out, he will more than likely start a few games at short stop for the Yankees like his legendary namesake and that is truly a dream come true.
Awesome.
I hope Jeter Downs starts all 162 games for the Yankees in 2024, and I hope he hits like he did in AAA…. Batting average .190 in 2021 and 2022, but he did have a .222 in 2023 AAA. He is just what the Yankees need.
(Downs OPS was nothing to write home about either, lol)
Solid depth move by Cashman
Maybe move up to quarter beer brands…
Jeter has more rings
I think he was part of the Yankee organization before… the Reds traded him to LA (I think)as part of a 3 way trade … he went to NY and then eventually to the Nationals…
Cincinnati to LA to Boston to Washington. First time playing in Yankee organization.
Thought that he’d be a solid 2B when with the Reds. Now he’s basically org filler.
Missed opportunity for click bait title.
La2t chance
Somehow seems appropriate.
They prefer Arson Judge
Waste of a roster space. They were better off protecting P’s Matt Sauer & Mitch Spence from being taken in the Rule 5. Pitching depth was more important than a scrub infielder.
if we protected those two players we would have lost two others
am i missing something? .. the draft is over. He was designated after the draft even so unless cashman is psychic this really had no bearing on protecting the other two.
Yankees have won the Mookie Betts trade.
Dodgers won the Mookie Betts trade. Red Sox finished second. Yankees finished a distant third. (If you really want to include the Yankees)
Connor Wong, Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice is much better to have right now, than Jeter Downs and 1 year of Verdugo.
Don’t give us Dick Fitts about this move! Jeter is now a 2 time Yankee!
By 1999, everyone knew what Dick was slang for. Do you think poor little Dickie Fitts’ parents were chuckling when they told the nurse their baby’s name?
That’s right. you better not sleep on Dick Fitts!
I’m sure Jeter is Down with this move.
At the time of the draft, Yankees only had like 36 players on the 40 man. They had ample space to protect Spence and Sauer. Now, even with Downs being added they still have 2 open spots.
I assume they try to sneak Downs through waivers. They still need spots for hopefully Yamamoto and other pitchers.
Not likely they need to “sneak” him through waivers…
@TroutIs2-4WARLevelNow
Aaron who?
All jokes aside, it’s interesting the Nationals would give up on him.
Why? Look at how many teams before the Nats gave up on him.
Not sure what people were expecting from him. Career BA in the minors of .238 and a wOBA of .333 and that’s assuming all levels of the minors not just AAA.
Minor leaguers usually lose about 18% of their production when they move from AAA to Majors so given those two predictive stats, it translates to a majors BA of .195 and a wOBA of .273. This is pretty close to his actual stats of a BA of .182 and a wOBA of 0.244.
We’ll see what the Yankees can do with him but he doesn’t look like the second coming of Derek.
The Yankees didn’t have a third string shortstop, and they were able pick this guy up for free. He may not make it to Opening Day if they find someone better.
No jokes about Jeter except that he’s horrible
Don’t be so down on him.
I think Downs hangs around in the Yankees organization. outperforms 1-2 of their higher rated prospects/players. Just my hunch.
Sure, he’ll be right up there with Franchy Cordero. BTW where is Franchy these days?
Jeter: Clunking swing — So Fastball, Offspeed, Fastball, Offspeed and hes done.
Franchy will be suiting up in Japan next season
I thought Jeter Downs was a racetrack in Kalamazoo somewhere.
But of course the Yankees picked this guy up.
Maybe the Yankees can help with that 50% strikeout rate
Sure they can… easy. They’ll have it up to 70% in no time at all!
This guy’s a .400 hitter!
Which is definitely the counter argument to the saying “stats don’t lie”
Jeter back on the Yankees!
Yankees love infielders and utility infielders that hit .146. They love a line up that 8 of the 9 hit below .250, with no power. Go Yankees.
Hey Clipper the article has Cabrera as a 6th infielder/5 outfielder. If that’s the case that’s 13 position players. Not many spots left on the pitching staff they better make em count.
Yeah, very true. And we know who would count – Yamamoto.
I’m also inclined to think Cease would be an excellent addition. Speaking of which, a trade at some point before the season wouldn’t surprise me either.
I’m not big on cease. I never been a spend spend spend guy I get more out of watching them develop kids. That being said I’m 50 and I went 18 years between championships and this is 15 now. So gimmie hello moto, Monty, fkn Hader, the rp from Toronto, I don’t give a damn I wanna win.
Yeah, I’m with you there. Monty would be just fine, but I don’t think the Yankees want to give him what Boras will be asking.
I really like Hader, and I think Jordan Hicks would be a perfect candidate for Blake.
I would call these guys locks barring a trade
Cole
Rodon
Nestor
Schmidt
Holmes
Loisaga
Effross
Kahne
Hamilton
Victor Gonzalez (dodger trade)
That’s 10
Agreed. That leaves three spots, one for Yamamoto (or whomever they get), and two for relief.
Not often you get to pick up a career .400 hitter in the majors.
Will Downs name his first born Churchill?
When did this guy ever show any promise? He can’t even hit in the minor leagues. Why does he get opportunity after opportunity ??? Is it all based on whatever “potential” scouts saw in him that caused him to be picked so high in the draft?? He looks like a complete nothingburger. Help me understand.
Downs wasn’t terrible in Rookie and A ball with the Reds and Dodgers. He hit .267 6 HR 29 RBI in 50 games in Rookie ball. The following year he hit .257 13 HR 47 RBI and 37 SB for Dayton.
The Reds traded Downs, Josiah Gray and Homer Bailey for Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Alex Wood, Kyle Farmer and $$.
With the Dodgers he made the California League All Star team and hit .333 in a cup of coffee in AA. Downs was ranked the #2 prospect in the Red Sox system in 2020.
He’d only played 12 games in AA before getting traded, and then there wasn’t a minor league season in 2020. Instead of putting him at AA in 2021, he spent the season at AAA, where he hit .190 14 HR 39 RBI. In 2022, he was called up after only hitting .190 in 53 games at AAA. He hit his first MLB HR at Yankee Stadium in July.
The Red Sox DFA’d him after the 2022 season. IMO he was rushed because their management needed to show they’d gotten something for Betts.
The Nats took a flyer on him but didn’t expect much, or need him. Nick Senzel will play 3B until prospect Brady House is ready late this year or in 2025.
On a baseball level: meh thats an ok depth move.
On a vibes level: LIT AF!!! BRING ME CONNOR WONG
The Mookie Betts trade is looking so good now. LA Dodgers got a great player and the Sox have Connor Wong to show for it. Great job FSG, please sell the team to someone who cares about the club.
I didn’t like giving this guy up before but he hasn’t exactly panned out.
I will say, however, that DFAing Downs and holding onto Ryan Brasier instead was absolutely asinine.
Well, in fairness he was a .400 hitter in MLB in 2023.
They just need Arod Upps
Or Posada Lillybeeyatch