Agent rips Giants for releasing J.D. Davis

The San Francisco Giants announced Monday they released infielder J.D. Davis.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said the team looked to trade Davis after placing him on waivers but couldn't find any takers.

Davis was owed $6.9 million in 2024 after winning his arbitration hearing. However, the Giants now only have to pay him around $1.1 million.

"In my 22 years in the business, I've never seen a club in arbitration make their one and only offer less than an hour before the exchange deadline," said Davis' agent, Matt Hannaford, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.

He added: "The way the Giants negotiated gave J.D. no choice but to go to a hearing, which he did, and which we won. It's unfortunate the club has handled things the way they have, but I'm confident in the player J.D. is and the value he will bring to his next team."

Meanwhile, Zaidi disagreed with Hannaford's response to the situation.

"We did formally offer J.D. just slightly under $6.4 million, matching the raise of what we believed to be one of the most relevant comps in the case," the executive said, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. "We did not offer this as a 'best and final' with no room to negotiate."

Davis became expendable after the Giants signed third baseman Matt Chapman in early March. The former appeared in 116 games at third base for San Francisco last season, also suiting up at first base and designated hitter.

The 30-year-old produced a .248/.325/.413 slash line with 18 home runs, 23 doubles, and 69 RBIs last season. He owns a career .343 on-base percentage and .775 OPS across seven campaigns for the Giants, New York Mets, and Houston Astros.

Since becoming a free agent, Davis has received interest from seven teams and could be ready to sign somewhere in the coming days, according to Slusser.