More than two weeks after Kim Ng’s departure as general manager, the Miami Marlins made some roster moves on Tuesday. To clear space on their 40-man roster entering the offseason, Enmanuel De Jesus, Jeff Lindgren and Jonathan Davis were all outrighted to AAA-Jacksonville. Miami’s 40-man roster now stands at 37.
Before being outrighted, the other 29 MLB teams had opportunities to claim these players off waivers. They passed through unclaimed.
De Jesus and Lindgren both made their major league debuts this season, but mainly in mop-up situations. De Jesus threw 6 ⅓ innings and had a 11.37 ERA. As for Lindgren, he threw seven innings with a 5.14 ERA. They spent most of 2023 in Jacksonville’s starting rotation.
The surprising move was outrighting Davis.
Acquired from the Detroit Tigers in May in exchange for Brady Allen, Davis proved to be nice outfield depth for Miami when filling in for an injured Jazz Chisholm Jr. He slashed .333/.407/.542/.949 during his first seven Marlins games along with solid defense in center field. Even when his bat cooled off, the team continued to have success with him in the lineup.
On July 4, Davis attempted to make a diving catch, injuring his right meniscus and undergoing surgery a couple days later. He would miss the remainder of the season.
Davis wound up playing 34 games for the Marlins and slashed .244/.307/.378/.685 with an 85 wRC+. Although the numbers don’t look too pleasing, that was a big improvement over his previous career numbers. Combined with his speed and defense, it seemed like he had a good shot of being tendered a contract for 2024 and sticking on the 40-man roster.
Instead, Davis is likely headed for free agency. He has the ability to reject the outright assignment because he’s previously been designated for assignment. With Chisholm recovering from his own surgery and Davis having built strong relationships in Miami, it would make a lot of sense for the Marlins to re-sign him to a minor league deal and invite him to spring training so he could fight to regain his roster spot.
Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins
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