Photo by Chris Simon
J.D. Davis met with the media ahead of the final game of the year Sunday and revealed he’ll have surgery on his left hand this week.
The left hand issue–a problem with a ligament–has been around since hurting it on a swing in May. Davis started and stopped rehab over the course of two months before coming back in July. The issue then lingered over the last three months of the season, eventually bothering him enough to land him on the injured list for the final week of the season.
Davis said the injury didn’t heal like doctors thought, so surgery should fix the issue.
With a disappointing season for the Mets as a whole and Davis on an individual level–injuries limited him to just 211 plate appearances–soon to be behind them, Davis talked openly about this potentially being the last time he speaks to the New York media as a Met.
“For my gut feeling, I could be out of here,” Davis said, acknowledging the front office changes that are coming for the team. “There is the possibility I could be back,” noting that it’s “50/50,” in his eyes. He’d like to return to the team, as he’s still under team control for another three seasons. But when asked by Anthony DiComo what makes him feel that he “could be outta here,” Davis said it was the “atmosphere” around the team of knowing there will likely be a lot of moving parts in the offseason.
J.D. Davis on his future with the Mets:
"I know there's going to be plenty of changes up and down, from front office down to here… my gut feeling, I could be out of here. That's where it's kind of leaning towards, but there is a possibility that I could come back." pic.twitter.com/UiEv30txpy
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 3, 2021
The Mets have a litany of free agents and will likely have significant turnover of their 40-man roster for the second straight offseason.
Davis seemed to acknowledge he’d been in various potential trade packages dating back to last offseason, and that could continue as the Mets look to improve the roster. Davis struggled to slot in at a spot defensively when the team was fully healthy, especially after the Javier Báez acquisition.
Davis’ feelings are likely not limited to just himself. Michael Conforto spoke about the uncertainty of his free agency coming up, and Sandy Alderson said he’s going to decide “quickly” on the coaching staff and not wait until a president of baseball operations is hired. That hints that most, if not all, of the coaching staff will not return as a POBO would have input on who manages the team next season
