Yankees sign former Cubs top prospect Brennen Davis to minors contract: report

While the Yankees are currently slated to enter the 2025 season with an outfield featuring captain Aaron Judge, newbie Cody Bellinger, and phenom Jasson Dominguez, they haven’t refrained from selecting offseason reclamation projects.

New York signed former Chicago Cubs top prospect Brennen Davis to a minor-league contract this past weekend, according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball, and it’s unclear whether the right-handed outfielder has received an invite to big league spring training. The Yankees have yet to announce the deal.

Davis should be viewed as a low-risk, high-reward investment. The 25-year-old spent four seasons (2020-23) as a consensus top-100 prospect by MLB Pipeline, and ranked No. 1 on the Cubs’ board before the 2022 season. But the 2018 second-round pick hasn’t been able to find his way into a major league clubhouse.

Due to injuries and slumps in recent years, Davis’ stock has considerably dropped. He played just 55 games last season, slashing an uninspiring .214/.359/.469 with 11 home runs and 28 RBI in 147 Triple-A plate appearances. Davis also played a handful of rehab games in High-A ball.

The Yankees are hoping they can tap into Davis’ lost power and plate discipline and help him regain confidence. Perhaps it’s too tall of an order, as he’s played 347 games across six minor league seasons. In the meantime, the club will rely on established starters in the outfield, as well as bench pieces like Oswaldo Cabrera and longtime prospect Everson Pereira.