Davidson, 34, first signed with the Dinos back in January. Once a first-round pick in the 2009 draft by the Diamondbacks and a regular on top-100 prospect lists in the early 2010s, Davidson has appeared in parts of six big league seasons but has never quite been successful in establishing himself in the majors. He played just 31 games total at the big league level for Arizona. While he hit a decent .237/.333/.434 in that time, he was shipped to Chicago in the deal that brought Addison Reed to the Diamondbacks the following offseason.

After arriving in Chicago, Davidson was relegated to the minor leagues in the first few years of his time with the organization, where he hit quite well; the slugger is a career .253/.335/.479 hitter at the Triple-A level and demonstrated 20-homer power for the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. He received semi-regular playing time with the White Sox from 2017 to 2018 and hit a respectable .224/.291/.435 with 46 home runs during that time, though he also struck out at an untenable 35.1% clip. Since the end of the 2018 season, Davidson has appeared in just 33 games at the big league level. Most recently, he hit .167/.167/.292 in an eight-game stint with the Athletics in 2022.

2023 saw Davidson head overseas to try his hand at playing baseball in Asia, though he initially did not head to the KBO. First, he went to Japan to play for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Hiroshima Carp. He hit a middling .224/.288/.452 overall in 117 games for the Carp. While he slugged 21 homers, his high strikeout rates and lackluster on-base percentage led the club to part ways with him. That led him to the Dinos, and his first season in Korea could’ve hardly gone better. While serving as his club’s primary first baseman, Davidson slashed an excellent .306/.370/.633 in 131 games. He slugged a KBO-leading 46 homers, and his 1.003 OPS ranked third in the league.

That dominant performance clearly got the Dinos’ attention, and they were quick to lock him up for the next two seasons after his power helped to keep the team somewhat competitive during a disappointing 61-81 season. While Davidson’s deal guaranteed him just $700K last winter, this year he’s been guaranteed more than double that figure and could earn more than $3MM total over the life of the contract if the option for next year is picked up. Given Davidson’s age, it’s unclear whether attempting a comeback in the majors could be in the cards for him when his contract with the Dinos ends, though if he continues hitting as he did last year he could follow in the footsteps of Eric Thames and look to revive his stateside career after years of posting otherworldly numbers in KBO play.

Davidson, 33 in March, has received scattered MLB action, appearing in six seasons over the 2013 to 2022 timeframe. He played in 311 big league games over that decade-long stretch, suiting up for the Diamondbacks, White Sox, Reds and Athletics. He struck out in 34.3% of his plate appearances but also launched 54 home runs. The combined result was a .220/.290/.430 batting line and 93 wRC+.

His Triple-A track record has been much stronger, as he has hit .253/.335/.479 at that level over eight separate seasons, hitting 163 home runs in 3,236 plate appearances. That likely helped him secure a job in Japan last year, as he joined the Hiroshima Carp of Nippon Professional Baseball for the 2023 season. He hit 19 home runs in his 381 plate appearances for that club but his overall line of .210/.273/.425 suggests it was a power-only performance. He struck out in 31.5% of his trips to the plate last year while walking just 5.8% of the time.

Despite the strikeouts, Davidson’s power bat is clearly a threat and it has intrigued the Dinos. This will complete the club’s foreign player allotment, as KBO clubs are limited to three such slots. They previously signed pitchers Daniel Castano and Kyle Hart.

It’ll be the first stint overseas for Davidson, the No. 35 overall pick in the 2009 draft (D-backs) and former top prospect who’s appeared in parts of six MLB seasons dating back to his 2013 debut. The bulk of Davidson’s MLB action has come with the White Sox, for whom he slugged 46 home runs between the 2017-18 seasons. However, despite Davidson’s clear plus power, he’s been hampered by a lofty 34.3% strikeout rate that has helped suppress his overall output. In 1112 plate appearances at the MLB level, Davidson is a .220/.290/.430 hitter with 54 home runs. He most recently appeared in 13 games between the A’s and D-backs in 2022.

Though he’s had his struggles at the big league level, Davidson has a much stronger track record in Triple-A — including a 2022 season in which he posted a mammoth .310/.414/.644 slash with 32 home runs in just 332 plate appearances between the top affiliates for Oakland and Arizona. The Pacific Coast League is notoriously hitter-friendly, but it’s nonetheless impressive to see that Davidson has slugged 60 round-trippers in his past 170 Triple-A games — and 93 in his past 275 games, dating back to 2019.

Even with consistent production in Triple-A over the past few seasons, Davidson hasn’t gotten much in the way of an MLB look. He’s appeared in just 35 big league games since Opening Day 2019.  In Japan, Davidson will receive consistent playing time and a far heftier salary than he’d have otherwise earned as a likely minor league signee who’d be seen as a depth option for a Major League club.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

• Taylor Davis (Pirates)
• Dustin Garneau (Tigers)
• Andrew Knapp (Giants)
• Pedro Severino (Brewers)

Infielders

• Willians Astudillo (Marlins)
• Johan Camargo (Phillies)
• Michael Chavis (Pirates)
• Matt Davidson (Athletics)
• Dixon Machado (Giants)
• Richie Martin (Orioles)
• Josh VanMeter (Pirates)
• Tyler Wade (Yankees)

Outfielders

• Greg Allen (Pirates)
• Lewis Brinson (Giants)
• Jaylin Davis (Red Sox)
• Jonathan Davis (Brewers)
• Jackson Frazier (Cubs)
• Brett Phillips (Orioles)

Pitchers

• Tyler Beede (Pirates)
• Austin Brice (Pirates)
• Miguel Del Pozo (Tigers)
• Jerad Eickhoff (Pirates)
• Luke Farrell (Reds)
• Paul Fry (Diamondbacks)
• Eric Hanhold (Pirates)
• Travis Lakins Sr. (Orioles)
• Mike Mayers (Angels)
• Daniel Mengden (Royals)
• Juan Minaya (Nationals)
• Sean Newcomb (Cubs)
• Dillon Peters (Pirates)
• Dereck Rodriguez (Twins)
• Cesar Valdez (Angels)
• Aneurys Zabala (Marlins)

Oakland didn’t need to create a 40-man roster spot for any of Allen, Neuse, Tapia or Snead. Davidson, though, is out of minor league option years. The A’s were thus left with the decision to keep him on the big league roster or take him off the 40-man entirely. With Davidson collecting just four hits while striking out ten times in eight games in an Oakland uniform, the club will turn back to Neuse and Allen in the infield at his expense.

Davidson has made 13 total big league appearances this year, as he also suited up five times with the D-Backs. He’s managed just a .147/.216/.324 showing against MLB arms, but the right-handed hitter has torn the cover off the ball in Triple-A. Between Arizona’s and Oakland’s top affiliates, Davidson owns a .306/.389/.711 line with 15 home runs in only 139 trips to the plate.

The extreme hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League no doubt has propped up those numbers, but Davidson has also flashed some power potential over parts of six MLB seasons. He’s a career .220/.290/.430 hitter in a bit more than 1100 plate appearances. Davidson’s .209 ISO (slugging minus batting average) is strong, but his huge strikeout totals and low walk rates have led to persistent issues reaching base.

Oakland will have a week to trade Davidson or run him through waivers. The latter outcome seems likelier given his lack of recent success against big league pitching. The 31-year-old has already cleared waivers once this season. He elected free agency last time around, and he’d have the right to do so again if he goes unclaimed.

Jiménez hits the IL with a shoulder strain; his placement is retroactive to June 19. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the righty has surprisingly jumped into a high-leverage role for manager Mark Kotsay. Jiménez has collected the first 11 saves of his career, pitching to a 4.38 ERA through 24 2/3 innings. He hadn’t allowed an earned run through the end of April, but Jiménez has been tagged for 12 runs (all earned) in 15 2/3 frames going back to the beginning of May.

Davidson, 31, saw some big league time with the D-backs earlier this season but rejected an outright assignment following a DFA and inked a minor league pact with the A’s. He’s appeared in just 21 Triple-A games and tallied 88 plate appearances but already has seven home runs in Las Vegas. Davidson was mashing with the D-backs’ Triple-A affiliate in Reno, too, and he’s posted an overall .306/.389/.711 batting line with 15 long balls in only 139 Triple-A plate appearances so far this season.

Some caveats to that production apply, of course. The Pacific Coast League is a notoriously hitter-friendly setting, with Vegas in particular tending to inflate offense. Davidson has had his share of Triple-A success in the past as well — albeit not to this extent — with 146 home runs logged through 703 games at that level. He’s a .248/.320/.470 hitter in Triple-A but hasn’t quite carried that over in parts of six seasons in the Majors, where he’s a .222/.292/.433 hitter. He could still give the A’s more offense than they’ve gotten out of Neuse, a fellow right-handed-hitting infielder who has managed a tepid .228/.291/.305 output in a career-high 182 Major League plate appearances so far.

Markel, also 31, inked a minor league deal with the A’s over the winter and parlayed a 1.89 ERA in 19 Triple-A frames into his first big league action since 2019. The former Mariners and Pirates righty has a long track record of missing bats at a high level but also battling command issues, and both of those have been true in the Majors and in Triple-A this season. Markel fanned 35.4% of his opponents while pitching for Las Vegas but also walked hitters at a 12.7% clip. He fired three scoreless innings in the Majors with the A’s and picked up three strikeouts … but he also issued a walk to five of the 13 hitters he faced.

Even though he averages better than 95 mph on his heater and has a 3.09 ERA and 30% strikeout rate in 177 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, Markel has only ever logged 25 innings in the Majors. There’s no sugarcoating his ugly 14.1% walk rate in Triple-A, but the bat-missing ability and velocity are somewhat intriguing all the same.

Oakland will have a week to trade Markel, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. He’s been outrighted once before — by the Angels in 2020 — so even if he goes unclaimed on waivers, he’d have the option of rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Davidson began the season with the Diamondbacks, opening the year with their top affiliate in Reno. The big right-handed hitter blasted eight home runs in 11 games for the Aces, and the Snakes promoted him in late April. Davidson went yard in his first plate appearance of the season in the majors as well, but he went hitless in his other nine at-bats. The D-Backs designated him for assignment when active rosters were reduced last Monday. He cleared outright waivers but declined the assignment in favor of free agency.

While the 31-year-old will remain in the Pacific Coast League to start his A’s tenure, he presumably believes there’s a clearer path to another MLB job in Oakland than there’d been in the desert. The A’s have primarily relied on Sheldon Neuse, Kevin Smith and Seth Brown in the corner infield this season. Neuse has done well in spite of poor strikeout and walk numbers, but neither Smith nor Brown has gotten off to a good start. Davidson is a career .222/.292/.433 hitter in a bit more than 1000 MLB plate appearances.

Juan, 23, has yet to even reach Double-A. His contract was nevertheless selected last November as the A’s set their 40-man roster in preparation for the Rule 5 draft (which never ended up transpiring). Unfortunately, Juan has spent the entire 2022 season on the minor league injured list. Injured players can’t be outrighted, so the A’s could only remove him from the 40-man by releasing him or placing him on the MLB 60-day injured list (which would’ve required paying him the prorated portion of the $700K MLB minimum salary). The A’s chose to release him but brought him back on a non-roster deal after he cleared waivers.

Davidson’s latest stay in the majors lasted a little under two weeks. Arizona selected him to the big leagues in late April, and he ultimately appeared in five games. The 31-year-old collected one hit (a homer off Josh Rogers) while drawing three walks in 13 plate appearances. That marked Davidson’s first MLB action since he suited up in 22 games for the Reds two seasons ago.

The right-handed hitter was a regular for the White Sox from 2017-18 but has otherwise picked up scant playing time in the majors. In a little under 1100 career plate appearances, Davidson owns a .222/.292/.433 line. He’s popped 53 homers with an impressive .211 ISO, but he’s also fanned in 34.1% of his trips to the plate. To his credit, he had gotten off to an incredible .386/.471/.955 start in Reno to earn his latest promotion.

Davidson is out of minor league options, so the Snakes had to remove him from the 40-man roster to take him off the big league club. They’ll presumably place him on waivers in the coming days. He’d have the right to refuse an outright assignment if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

This will be a homecoming for Davidson, who was drafted by Arizona in 2009 and made his MLB debut with the D-Backs in 2013. He has one of the more unusual résumés in the game, as he’s primarily been a power-hitting corner infielder with a penchant for strikeouts, but also tried his hand at being a two-way player, throwing 6 1/3 MLB innings thus far in his career. However, he hasn’t pitched in the majors or minors since 2020, suggesting he’s focusing on hitting for now. In addition to the Snakes, he’s spent some time in the big leagues with the White Sox and Reds, hitting 52 homers in 298 career games. His overall slash line is .223/.292/.433, with a 34.2% strikeout rate. He spent last year hitting well for the Dodgers’ Triple-A team but never got the call to the show. Arizona signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason and he’s gotten off to a tremendous start, hitting eight homers in 11 games and slashing an incredible .386/.471/.955, though still striking out 27.5% of the time.

He’s been exclusively at first base and designated hitter so far this year, meaning the D-Backs will likely use him in the same way at the big league level. Christian Walker has seen the bulk of playing at first for Arizona this year, but is hitting just .132/.267/.316 thus far. If Davidson can provide even half of what he was doing in the minors, he’d be a big upgrade. He also has three years and 112 days of service time, meaning he could be kept around for another couple of seasons via arbitration if the 31-year-old can emerge as a regular in the lineup, like he was for the White Sox in 2017-18.

As for Peacock, he was a 23rd round selection of the club in the 2017 draft. He was added to the team’s 40-man roster prior to the 2020 Rule 5 draft. He made his MLB debut last year and tossed 86 1/3 innings with a 4.90 ERA. His 13% strikeout rate was well below average, but he paired that with a strong 59.2% groundball rate and 7.3% walk rate. He’s tossed 2 2/3 innings for the big league club so far this year. Now 28 years old, Peacock will likely head to the waiver wire in the coming days. He still has options and could attract the attention of teams in need of extra pitching depth in the minors.

Selected with the No. 36 overall pick back in 2009, Davidson has shown plenty of power in the big leagues but hasn’t solidified himself as a consistent MLB contributor despite parts of five seasons in the Majors. The MVP Sports client last appeared for the 2020 Reds, hitting .163/.234/.395 with three homers and a double in 47 plate appearances.

In a total of 1075 plate appearances from 2013-20, Davidson is a lifetime .223/.292/.433 hitter with 52 home runs but a sky-high 34.2% strikeout rate. He’s split his big league time evenly between the two infield corners, and while there was some brief consideration of making Davidson a two-way player a few years ago, he has just 7 1/3 innings on the mound in his pro career.

Davidson will add some right-handed-hitting depth to the D-backs’ infield picture, and he’s coming off a massive performance with the Dodgers’ Triple-A club in 2021. Last year, in just 356 plate appearances with Oklahoma City, Davidson slugged 28 homers and tallied 21 doubles while batting .294/.365/.629 (136 wRC+).

6:41pm: The Dodgers have reached a minor league agreement with corner infielder Matt Davidson, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. The deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Davidson, the 35th overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2009 and a well-regarded prospect in the ensuing years, debuted in the bigs with the club in 2013. The Diamondbacks traded Davidson to the White Sox prior to 2014 for reliever Addison Reed, however. Davidson didn’t make his White Sox debut until 2016, but the now-29-year-old owns a lifetime .223/.292/.433 line with 52 home runs in 1,075 plate appearances. He was a 20-home run hitter in both 2017 and ’18.

Davidson spent last year as a member of the Reds, with whom he struggled to a .163/.264/.395 mark at the plate with three HRs in 47 PA. He also appeared in three games as a pitcher, tossing 3 1/3 innings of two-earned run ball. Davidson threw three scoreless innings while with the White Sox in 2018.

In all likelihood, Davidson won’t help the Dodgers’ pitching staff. But he’ll at least try to earn a backup role as an infielder behind third baseman Justin Turner, whom the Dodgers just agreed to re-sign, and first baseman Max Muncy.

Bowman is a 29-year-old right-hander originally claimed off waivers from the Cardinals after the 2018 season. He made 27 appearances out of the bullpen for the Reds in 2019, pitching to a 3.66 ERA/3.68 FIP across 32 innings with 7.0 K/9 to 3.7 BB/9. The Maryland native unfortunately underwent Tommy John surgery on September 1st, making the 2022 season the earliest he is likely to return to action.

Biddle was the 27th overall pick of the 2010 draft by the Phillies, though he never appeared with Philadelphia in the big leagues. He has seen big-league action for the Braves, Mariners, Rangers, and Reds, making one outing with Cincinnati in 2020 before being sidelined with shoulder discomfort. The 28-year-old owns a 4.68 career ERA in 92 1/3 innings across 91 appearances.

Jankowski came to the Reds from the Padres for international slot money after the 2019 season. The southpaw-swinging outfielder went just 1-for-15 at the plate, appearing 7 times as a pinch-runner, and contributing 49 1/3 innings of outfield defense for the 2020 Reds. The 29-year-old owns a career triple slash of .238/.315/.313 in 350 career games.

The 29-year-old Davidson surprisingly appeared in 20 games for the Reds in 2020 after spending all of 2019 with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate. This marked his second return to the bigs after a somewhat prolonged absence, previously returning to the Show in 2016 with the White Sox after making his debut in 2013 with the Diamondbacks. Davidson has been attempting life as a two-way player, and he did make 3 pitching appearances for the Reds, though most of his usage came as a DH or pinch-hitter. He slashed .163/.234/.395 across 47 plate appearances with 3 home runs. On the mound, he gave up 2 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings of work.

The Reds designated Davidson for assignment on Sept. 8, which came after the two-time 20-home run hitter batted .163/.234/.295 with three homers in 47 plate appearances. He also saw a bit of time on the mound, throwing 3 1/3 innings of two-earned run ball.

The elbow problem represents yet another troubling injury for Thornburg, who was a premier reliever with the Brewers in 2016 but has fallen off since the Red Sox acquired him entering 2017. Thornburg missed all of that season, during which he underwent thoracic outlet surgery, and has only totaled 49 2/3 innings in the majors since. The 31-year-old has performed decently in his first season with the Reds, though, having struck out 10 and yielded three earned runs on six hits and five walks.

Davidson, an offseason minor league signing for Cincinnati who previously appeared in the majors as a member of the Diamondbacks and White Sox, totaled 47 plate appearances for the Reds before they designated him. The 29-year-old homered three times during that short span, but he could still only put together a .163/.234/.395 line in 22 games.

Of course, Davidson is one of the rare major leaguers capable of playing a two-way game. He made his debut on the mound as a right-hander with the White Sox in 2018 and has added another 3 1/3 frames as a Red this season. Davidson gave up two earned runs on two walks (one strikeout) and four hits in 2020 prior to his designation.

Davidson was in the starting lineup for Friday’s 7-1 Cincinnati victory over Detroit, so in the wake of this positive test, surely there must be some concern within the Reds clubhouse about whether others could have been infected.  As noted by Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds haven’t had any coronavirus cases since prior to the opening of Summer Camp, when two players tested positive during the initial round of intake testing.

Davidson signed a minors contract with the Reds over the offseason, and Friday’s game marked his first bit of Major League action since the 2018 season.  While Davidson slugged 46 homers over 939 PA for the White Sox in 2017-18, he wasn’t a productive offensive player overall, with a .224/.291/.435 slash line.  Davidson has also dabbled with pitching, though the Reds seems to be focusing on him as a position player only.

Aquino was the talk of baseball last summer after he slugged 15 homers and posted a 1.129 OPS over his first 124 plate appearances, though he quickly cooled off after that incredible start.  He’ll now get another chance at playing time, and could be aided by the existence of a DH spot rather than having to fight for space in a crowded Reds outfield.

Antone was a fifth-round pick for the Reds in the 2014 draft, and he’ll head to the big leagues after posting a 3.74 ERA, 2.80 K/BB rate, and 6.8 K/9 over 611 1/3 career minor league innings.  A grounder specialist, Antone is ranked 20th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top prospects in Cincinnati’s farm system.