{"id":65193,"date":"2023-12-29T07:00:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=65193"},"modified":"2023-12-28T22:44:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T03:44:20","slug":"yankees-claim-jeter-downs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/12\/29\/yankees-claim-jeter-downs\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Claiming This Former Top-Prospect Works for the Yankees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Yankees have claimed former top-prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/downsje01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeter Downs<\/a> to their 40-man roster. Here&#8217;s why the move could make Brian Cashman look like a genius.<\/p>\n<h2>Claiming Jeter Downs Works for the Yankees<\/h2>\n<h3>Acquisition<\/h3>\n<p>Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees&#8217; active offseason continued when they claimed SS Jeter Downs off waivers on December 19.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Earlier today, the Yankees claimed INF Jeter Downs off waivers from the Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 New York Yankees (@Yankees) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Yankees\/status\/1737193641641218059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 19, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Once the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/prospects\/2020\/redsox\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#1 prospect for the Boston Red Sox<\/a>, Downs&#8217; MLB career has had a tough time gaining momentum. Since being a part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/02\/09\/boston-red-sox-restructure-trade-to-send-mookie-betts-david-price-to-los-angeles-dodgers\/\" target=\"_self\">blockbuster<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bettsmo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mookie Betts<\/a> trade in 2020, the prospect has been unable to find an organization to call home &#8211; getting DFA&#8217;d by both the Red Sox and the Nationals. The 25-year-old shortstop hasn&#8217;t had the best of fortune so far, but here&#8217;s why joining the Yankees could be his lucky break.<\/p>\n<h3>Prospect Career<\/h3>\n<p>When the Cincinnati Reds took Downs in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft, he was revered for his talents. Scouting reports described Downs as being a plus prospect who had good baserunning and bat-to-ball skills&#8211;and it didn&#8217;t take long to see why.<\/p>\n<p>In his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.milb.com\/player\/jeter-downs-669023\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">first full season<\/a> with Single-A Dayton, Downs swiped 37 bags and had 38 extra-base hits, catching the attention of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was then traded to LA and continued to improve, finishing the 2019 campaign with a .888 OPS.<\/p>\n<p>The following year, the Dodgers shipped him off to Boston and things would not go as swimmingly. He batted below .200 in his two years with the team but earned a 14-game call-up in 2022 that featured at least one highlight moment.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-media-max-width=\"560\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Jeter Downs first MLB home run in 2022 was against a team and pitcher that you might be familiar with <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/doHahmP83s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/doHahmP83s<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Talkin&#8217; Yanks (@TalkinYanks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinYanks\/status\/1737202391047426379?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 19, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That December, he would be DFA&#8217;d and claimed by the Nationals. When he got his brief six-game chance in the pros, he showed promise by batting .400 and stealing two bases.<\/p>\n<p>Now he will suit up for the Yankees in 2023, his fifth organization in six years. But this time there&#8217;s reason to believe things will be different.<\/p>\n<h3>Why it Works for the Yankees<\/h3>\n<p>Jeter Downs excels at something the Yankees sorely fail at &#8211; stealing bases. No matter the opponent, the shortstop found a way to keep snagging free bases with his legs, collecting 118 stolen bags so far as a professional. Last year, the Yankees ranked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/stats\/team\/stolen-bases\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">21st<\/a> as a team in the category, finishing with 100. By comparison, they were only 90 away from first place with Cincinnati.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees have been working hard to fix their shortcomings this offseason. They addressed their lack of left-handed hitters by trading for outfielders <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=verdual01,verdug001ale&amp;search=Alex+Verdugo&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-12-28_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Verdugo<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/12\/06\/juan-soto-trade-yankees\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Juan Soto<\/a>, deepened their bullpen with guys like LHP <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/12\/11\/yankees-trade-trey-sweeney-dodgers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Victor Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a> and RHP <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/12\/26\/yankees-trade-estevan-florial-guardians\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Cody Morris<\/a>, and have now addressed their speed concerns with Jeter Downs.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees have not held a championship trophy now in over a decade, not since &#8220;The Captain&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jeterde01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Jeter<\/a> wore the pinstripes. With his frenzy of moves, Cashman has been making it clear he wants to end that streak. Adding another Jeter in town might just do that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Yankees have claimed former top-prospect Jeter Downs to their 40-man roster. Here&#8217;s why the move could make Brian Cashman look like a genius. Claiming Jeter Downs Works for the Yankees Acquisition Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees&#8217; active offseason continued when they claimed SS Jeter Downs off waivers on December 19. Earlier today, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4905,"featured_media":65211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1071],"tags":[68,3350,69,1646,41],"class_list":["post-65193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-jeter-downs","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-offseason","tag-new-york-yankees"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4905"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}