6 once beloved former NY Mets players still without a job as spring training nears

Spring training is getting dangerously close and these former Mets fan favorites (even briefly) remain unsigned.

New York Mets v Milwaukee Brewers
New York Mets v Milwaukee Brewers | John Fisher/GettyImages
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5) J.D. Davis

A little further removed from playing for the Mets than many of the others on this list, J.D. Davis was one who left in the middle of 2022 shortly after the arrival of Vogelbach. The team decided to go in a disastrous direction of pairing Vogelbach with Darin Ruf at the DH spot. We still wake up with nightmares remembering it.

Davis spent parts of four seasons with the Mets. An overlooked offseason addition heading into 2019, he took full advantage of playing time (and the juiced baseballs) when he hit .307/.369/.527 with 22 home runs in 453 plate appearances. He was never quite as good again, but did manage to put up numbers that, in retrospect, are far better than many others who’ve come through. He’d end his Mets tenure with a .278/.364/.451 slash line and 37 home runs in exactly 1100 plate appearances. A good bat to have around, in particular to face lefties, Davis has struggled in each of the last two seasons.

Davis received regular playing time for the San Francisco Giants in 2023, belting 18 home runs and driving in 69 while slashing .248/.325/.413. The Giants famously cut him before the season started, leaving him flopping in the wind only to catch on with the Oakland Athletics. His time there was brief. In 39 games he batted .236/.304/.366. He’d end up with the New York Yankees batting .105/.227/.158 in an even shorter sample of 22 plate appearances.

The holes in Davis’ game will continue to hold him back. Never quite able to make the adjustments he needed to, he’s a Four-A bat at this point in his career at the absolute best.

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