Catching up on some news that was reserved throughout the trade due date craze, the Yankees revealed the other day that infielder Jeter Downs was launched and signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

Downs, 26, wasn’t a Yankee for long. He was declared off waivers from the Nationals in December, with the Yankees then passing him through waivers unclaimed in January. He didn’t can choose complimentary company at that time and has actually remained in the Yankees’ system in a non-roster capability ever since.

He has actually been having a good year at Triple-A. In 69 video games for Scranton Wilkes-Barre, he struck 10 crowning achievement and slashed .264/.360/.498 for a wRC+ of 117. He likewise took 15 bases while bouncing in between 2nd base, 3rd base and shortstop.

Despite those good numbers, he never ever got phoned to the majors despite the fact that the Yankees have actually had a lot of infield obstacles. Players like Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and Oswaldo Cabrera have actually had frustrating seasons up until now and Jon Berti has actually been on the hurt list for the majority of the year. But the club never ever felt obliged to hire Downs and ultimately obtained Jazz Chisholm from the Marlins and plugged him onto their lineup. Since he was relatively obstructed from getting any playing time in the Bronx, he will rather go overseas to see if this chance will exercise for him.

Downs was as soon as a leading 100 possibility throughout his time in the Dodgers’ system, before being traded to the Red Sox in the now-infamous 2020 offer that sent out Mookie Betts and David Price to Los Angeles. He had a hard time to measure up to the buzz in the subsequent seasons, striking .200/.309/.365 in the minors over the 2021-23 projects. He was just offered quick appearances in the majors, producing a line of .182/.260/.273 in 50 plate looks. He went from the Red Sox to the Nationals on waivers in December of 2022 however then the Yankees got him off waivers a year later on, as discussed.

If he prosper in Japan, he might fascinate groups based his past. He struck .267/.359/.458 in the minors from 2017 to 2019, however mainly at the lower levels, with just 12 video games above High-A in that time. But he has the previous possibility pedigree and was carrying out well in Triple-A this year. A good run with the Hawks might possibly blaze a trail to a go back to the majors down the line, particularly because he’s still just 26 years of ages.