Cubs Potential Offseason Targets: Rajai Davis

To view past articles in this series, you can always click on the 2010 Offseason Targets tag in the byline above.

Let's give credit to Arizona Phil for this suggestion as he pointed out that Rajai Davis qualified for Super Two status and could be available if the A's want to save some money.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP
2006 25 PIT 20 17 14 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 3 2 3 .143 .250 .214 .464 22 3 0 0
2007 26 TOT 75 219 190 32 53 11 2 1 9 22 6 21 28 .279 .361 .374 .735 92 71 1 4
2007 26 PIT 24 57 48 6 13 2 1 0 2 5 2 7 3 .271 .357 .354 .711 87 17 1 0
2007 26 SFG 51 162 142 26 40 9 1 1 7 17 4 14 25 .282 .363 .380 .743 93 54 0 4
2008 27 TOT 113 226 214 30 52 5 4 3 19 29 6 8 40 .243 .272 .346 .618 68 74 1 1
2008 27 SFG 12 19 18 2 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 6 .056 .105 .056 .161 -56 1 0 0
2008 27 OAK 101 207 196 28 51 5 4 3 19 25 6 7 34 .260 .288 .372 .660 80 73 1 1
2009 28 OAK 125 432 390 65 119 27 5 3 48 41 12 29 70 .305 .360 .423 .784 112 165 12 7
4 Seasons 333 894 808 128 226 44 11 7 76 93 27 60 141 .280 .336 .387 .724 94 313 14 12
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/26/2009.

Blue Jays vs. Athletics

Those numbers sure are nothing to get you excited, at least not as a starter. On the other hand, he could make an interesting replacement for Reed Johnson as a center field platoon for Kosuke Fukudome if Fukudome stays in center. His career splits don't show a huge advantage versus lefties quite like Reed Johnson. Davis has a career .735 OPS against lefties vs .717 against righties, while Johnson has an .841 OPS versus lefties and just .707 versus righties. On the other hand, Davis is a game changer in the field. Fangraphs and BP both rate him highly as does the Fan's Scouting Report. Those defensive numbers helped contribute to WAR and WARP1 numbers near 4 for 2009 combined with his surge in hitting.

Of course, when you're a speed demon with little power and pedestrian walk rate, you know his BABIP numbers are gonna skew on the high side and lo and behold he had a .366 last year which will be tough to repeat.

I'd probably pass on any potential trade in this case if I were the Cubs. I know the Cubs wanted to add speed to their roster next year and that elusive true leadoff man, but getting in on Davis (maybe a Fuld for Davis trade?), wouldn't be much more different than trading for Juan Pierre or signing Joey Gathright. Yeah, if he could repeat his offensive numbers from last year, his defense and baserunning would make him worthwhile, but I have a hard time giving any assurances that he could repeat those numbers. As a possible platoon partner, he's gonna fare better than Fukudome versus lefties, but just because he's hitting from the right side I don't know if he gives you that much more over Sam Fuld or brining back Reed Johnson.

Tags: 
2010 Offseason Targets
Rajai Davis
Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 9:51am
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Comments

Submitted by Dusty Baylor
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 10:20am

Joey Gathright...(shudder)

Submitted by garsky
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:36am

Don't think it's 3/44, but as of 9 this morning, they're officially the Ricketts Cubs: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/10/cubs-...

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:38am

Reuters is also reporting it's officially over. Took over 2 years.

Submitted by Seamhead
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 12:39pm

I sincerely hope that Rickett's first official action as CEO is completely non-goat related.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 12:52pm

This seems like the prototypical Hendry acquistion.

(Buying at the absolute highest point of a guys value)

Submitted by The E-Man
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 1:13pm

Agreed, Dr. Aaron.

Isn't it just worth it to keep Sammy Fuld at the cheap price and see if his bat can get going a little bit?

Submitted by Craig A.
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 1:20pm

From the LA Times Angels blog:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/angels_blog/2009/1...
"Figgins, even with his .086 postseason average, will be highly coveted in the free agent market, probably getting bids as high as $10 million or $11 million a year. The Angels won't go that high."
Will the Cubs go that high?

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 1:22pm

Good lord I hope not.

You can get Hermida,Hardy and sign 3-4 signability Amatures in July for that kind of money.

Fight the urge Jimmy. Make him fight the urge Mr. Ricketts.

Submitted by MikeC
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 4:39pm

Your still on the JJ Hardy thing? My god man what don't you get about them not trading Hardy to one of their main rivals in the division? Milton Bradley has a better chance of being anoited a Saint than JJ Hardy ever putting on a Cubs uniform.

Submitted by toonsterwu
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 7:21pm

agreed. I don't see any chance they deal Hardy to us unless it's a "it's so stupid that we can't pass it up type deal". Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if the Cubs are waiting on Castro at shortstop and will use Theriot until Castro's ready.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 1:32pm

Will the Cubs go that high?

depends how stupid they decide to be this offseason, that would be an epic waste of money

Submitted by Seamhead
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 3:42pm

Lou wants a #5 hitter in the worst way; a much higher priority for him than a Figgins-type lead-off guy.

Seems hihgly unlikely that they could jam both Figgins and a true #5 hitter into a $140 million budget.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 3:48pm

where do you think Soriano is gonna bat?

Submitted by The E-Man
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 4:22pm

Don't you think its dependent on our new hitting coach's success?

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 4:44pm

so I guess maybe he'll bat 6th...

finding a good defensive center fielder with the power you want to bat 5th isn't gonna happen I'm guessing. Maybe they'll find one a RFer by sheer luck, and keep Fukudome in CF, but I have my serious doubts...

Submitted by John Beasley
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 8:41pm

Not a lot of available CFs that can hit fifth. Cameron could certainly be had on a one-year stopgap deal. Damon would be a stretch both at the 5-hole and in center at this point. DeJesus maybe could be had for the right prospect package. Crawford hasn't played a lot of center but could probably cut it out there, but that'd cost a ton of prospects. So would Carlos Beltran, though there was talk the Mets want to move either him or Reyes so they can buy some pitching.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 8:44pm

So would Carlos Beltran, though there was talk the Mets want to move either him or Reyes so they can buy some pitching.

I certainly wouldn't count on Beltran getting moved.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/carlos-beltr...

fun note if you follow the link in that article, says RSox offered Youk and Shoppach for Beltran to Royals but they went for Buck and Teahan instead.

Submitted by John Beasley
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 9:05pm

Pittsburgh has the notoriety because of the losing streak, and almost single-handedly because of Dave Littlefield, but there's a fine argument to be made that KC was the worst team of the decade.

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 10/27/2009 - 5:05pm

if our main slugger keeps batting 1st this team has more issues than the guy batting leadoff.

Submitted by Tito
on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 9:06am

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/sep/12/spo...

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