The Dodgers have inked infielder Brendon Davis and catcher Chris Okey to minor league deals, according to the transaction logs and each player’s MLB.com profile page. It’s unclear if either deal comes with an invitation to MLB Spring Training next month.
It’s a reunion for Davis, 26, who was selected by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. His first stint in the organization was a short one, however, as Davis was among the prospects L.A. shipped to the Rangers to acquire right-hander Yu Darvish at the 2017 trade deadline just two years after he had been drafted. Davis’s stay in the Rangers organization was only slightly longer. He played in the club’s organization in the 2017-19 seasons and reached the Double-A level during that time before missing the 2020 season due to the cancelled minor league season. The following offseason, Davis was plucked from the Rangers organization by the Angels in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Davis’s return to southern California was a successful one, as he slashed .290/.362/.561 across three levels during the 2021 season, including a .333/.409/.641 slash line in a 33-game taste of the Triple-A level. 2022 saw him get a full season of experience in Triple-A, though his numbers fell back down to Earth a bit as he slashed just .235/.340/.424. Most of that production came in the Tigers organization, as Detroit claimed him off waivers from the Angels in May of that year. Davis even saw his first taste of big league action during the 2022 season thanks to a brief late-season call-up from the Tigers, though he collected just two hits, a walk, and a stolen base while striking out three times in 11 trips to the plate during his three-game stint in the majors.
Davis remained in Detroit for the 2023 season but struggled badly at Triple-A early in the season, slashing .178/.289/.363 and making it into just 43 games before the club released him back in June. Now back with the team that drafted him nearly a decade ago, Davis figures to provide the Dodgers with a depth option in the upper minors going forward. The 26-year-old boasts experience at all four infield spots and all three outfield spots, though he’s spent most of his time on the left side of the infield to this point in his career.
As for Okey, the 29-year-old was a second-round pick by the Reds back in 2016 and slowly worked his way up the minor league ladder, eventually reaching Triple-A in 2019. After the aforementioned layoff in 2020, Okey managed a respectable .237/.330/.379 slash line in 2021 before making his big league debut the following June. Okey’s time in the majors that season lasted just seven games, however, before he was designated for assignment and spent the rest of the season back at Triple-A.
After electing minor league free agency that winter, Okey caught on with the Angels on a minor league deal. An early-season injury to Logan O’Hoppe provided a potential opportunity for Okey at the big league level but the club ultimately relied primarily on the services of Matt Thaiss and Chad Wallach until O’Hoppe returned in August, with Okey appearing in just two games at the big league level. He struck out in both of his plate appearances in the majors last year, though he did manage to hit a respectable .281/.345/.414 in 235 trips to the plate with the club’s Triple-A affiliate last year.
Going forward, Okey will remain in southern California with the Halos’ geographic rival in L.A. as a depth option behind the plate. The club seems largely set behind the plate thanks to the long-standing tandem of Will Smith and Austin Barnes, but the presence of Okey could allow the club to avoid rushing a prospect like Diego Cartaya, Hunter Feduccia, or Dalton Rushing to the majors in the event of an injury.
They needed some MLB-ready depth at catcher, as Barnes has been brutal the last couple of years.
They have Dalton and Diego, but Okey dokey
They also have Hunter Feduccia on their 40 man (Diego is on it too but Dalton isn’t) and he has one season in AAA OKC under his belt already.
Somebody’s about to be moved. I hope Heyman isn’t right about getting Jansen.
Feduccia can play.
MBMVP
“They have Dalton and Diego, but Okey dokey”
They said MLB ready, Okey dokey?
Deeds, you ever see a slash line that you didn’t think was “respectable?”
That one time with Guns & Roses when he tried to sing.
Okey move to me
Barnes need sto go and hopefully one of these prospects can replace him. They need a quality guy who can step in to play SS to spell Lux and not sure about defense at 3B, but Muncy has no where else to play. And a stud in the pen would not hurt. Nitpicking.
Spring training invites deferred to 2030 tho.
Feduccia is 26, he’s ready. I think Cartaya most likely has more potential than Rushing, but he’s also the prospect I’d move. Rushing can come up in a couple of years and split time with Smith until Smith starts to break down.
People in LA are mean to Okies. I saw “Chinatown” last night and am reminded of this.
Who is mean to who?
Californians are mean to Okies. An Okie is a person from Oklahoma who fled the state and often went to California during the Great Depression/Dust Bowl.
TruthLemonade, haha Ok cool. That is what I thought you meant. Yeah I live in LA and I drive the Okies out with a stick on a daily basis! We keep the Okie population down here under control. They stick out like sore thumbs. Just asking for it!
Those Okies are so annoying.
Why can’t they be more like the Arkies?
I would love to switch it up and meet me an Arkie! I have always wanted to go to Texarkana. I’ve heard legends.
And what about them Sooners?
Austin Barnes would have been DFA’D years ago on any others team. Get rid of that guy already
He’s Kershaw’s guy.
You can always count on someone here not understanding a catcher’s job.
I don’t think most serious Dodgers fans have qualms about Barnes. He will be gone soon enough. But he backs up Smitty whenever he takes his 2 or 3 days off per season and catches Kershaw whenever they feel like it. Barnes has earned his keep.
Correct Trumbo
You don’t need a second Catcher come playoffs…the Dodgers hardly need any reg season help today
Yeah Cap. It feels a bit greedy to nit pick over the backup C when Smitty is such a gamer. Barnes handles business behind the plate he just can’t really hit anymore..Story of every catchers life..
Yup greedy would be an appropriate word
I’m sure they pondered a Omar Narvaez for Almonte trade and came up with the same conclusion
Lol Personally I don’t give a 2nd thought to Barnes being the #2 man. Yes, Smith could always go down (knock on wood), but Barnes could hold it down, and if not, they bring up a youngster or give Jeff Mathis a call. Not stressing.
Sure but my point is little or none of what makes a catcher good at his job is captured by statistics, and especially not by a batting line. He calls the game, which means knowing his pitchers inside and out, and every batter he faces. He also has to know what’s going on with his pitchers throughout a game, to see what’s working and what isn’t on any given day, and make adjustments in mix, sequencing and location on the fly. And he’s got to do it while squatting. Catchers have the hardest job on the team, and if you want to know who’s good at it, ask a pitcher. They’ll tell you a good catcher makes them better a pitcher.
100% Blue
I 2nd that motion.
Even a great defensive catcher who can call a great game is worth tolerating a meager BA. But dude can’t hit .200. Even journeymen catchers with good reps can do better.
I don’t even think they care about his bat at this juncture.
Barnes had an absolutely brutal first half of the season, but a very respectable second half. In that second half, who had the higher BA, Barnes or Smith? Go ahead, look it up. I’ll wait.
Exactly this, plus the bonus that Barnes is a key clubhouse guy that is liked by everyone in the organization. Not to mention how much he’s helped Smith improve his pitch calling and framing over the last handful of years. Catchers are to baseball, what offensive linemen are to football — vitally important, while receiving the least recognition of any position.
No unfunny deferral jokes? What’s wrong with this site 😛
To be honest, the Dodgers set themselves up for all these jokes. They and their fans will have to deal with them.
Nationals have twice as many deferrals as Lad currently so No
Adult~boys with zero sense of humor or awareness have set the stage for the jokes not the Dodgers
unfortunately LA have deferred all jokes until 2030
Southern California. It’s a proper noun.
SoCal
An abbreviation for the proper noun.
Stop divulging all of our local lingo Blue Skies!!
Yeah apparently it’s a secret!
Padres aren’t doing anything.
Don’t even know why SD has a baseball team.
Tipping cap to the Dodgers.
The 2 $ trolley to the bar across from left center
12$ seat (was 2014 then)
470 ish steps from bar seat to game seat
When I was a Northern SD resident I always found that be a great value ; and coming in from the OF made it all completely effortless
Man, I guess the last three seasons meant nothing.
Nope, not a thing. Until the Padres win a WS doesn’t mean a thimg.
Yet you tip your cap to the Dodgers for what then?
Kershaw only pitches 100 innings most year and will miss half of the next. It makes no sense to play Barnes over Feduccia. Hunter is lefty and the perfect complement to Smith. Feduccia hits high velocity better than most top prospects. He also kills righties with a great reputation for handling a staff. Barnes has a horrible arm and had average to league worst numbers behind the dish.
It’s incredible how much of a black hole he’s been the last few years.
Barnes can play Infield to.
They’ll probably become hall of famers
Cheap A$$ dodgers, they’ll never win if they are afraid to spend
Smile
IMO Rushing is hella overrated.
No, I would say Cartaya is overrated with the performance he had last season.