Yankees trade for bitter former Mets player and other happenings with our exes

The New York Mets and New York Yankees will play each other in part one of the 2024 Subway Series this weekend. After seeing Tomas Nido at Wrigley Field over the weekend with the Chicago Cubs, the Mets will have a chance to see another old pal, J.D. Davis.

Davis was traded to the Yankees by the Oakland Athletics on Sunday right as the news was announced that the team was placing Giancarlo Stanton on the IL. Davis couldn’t make the cut in Oakland. After being DFA’d by the San Francisco Giants in the preseason, he made his way across the Bay to the Athletics where he hit .236/.304/.366 in 135 plate appearances.

A regular at first base for the Athletics this year, the Yankees might be looking for more than a DH while Stanton is out. Also missing Anthony Rizzo, we can expect Davis to slide in at first base where he made 17 starts with the A’s. Davis memorably roasted the Mets last season for the way they used him only to see his numbers diminish shortly after.

Former Mets have been up to a lot these last few days

Davis and Nido finding new homes is hardly the latest on the ex-Mets news front. Max Scherzer was reinstated from the IL on Sunday just days after the Mets played the Texas Rangers. Five shutout innings of one-hit ball was the result in his start against the Kansas City Royals.

Last week, the equally as popular as unpopular Daniel Vogelbach saw his time with the Toronto Blue Jays come to an end. In just 79 plate appearances he hit .186/.278/.300 with only 1 home run. Kind Canadians were subject to many of the same problems Mets fans experienced with Vogey. He still hasn’t played first base since he was a member of the 2022 Pittsburgh Pirates.

For those keeping tabs on Mets from a little more distant past, Steven Matz suffered a setback in his rehab and will miss another 4-6 weeks. St. Louis Cardinals fans might not mind too much. Despite pitching well for them last season in a limited 105 innings as a starter and reliever, this season has been back to the way things were in 2022. Matz is 1-2 with a 6.18 ERA in 6 starts for a Cardinals team that has shown much more fight than they did when he was in the rotation.

The Mets won’t have to worry about Scherzer, Vogelbach, or Matz having any impact on them immediately. Davis, on the other hand, seems a sure thing to start in at least one game against the Mets in his Yankees debut. Will the story end with him vengefully slapping the Mets around or a more predictable outcome of the Mets pitchers blowing fastballs by him?