Yankees Acquire Player Named After Derek Jeter
By Jason Hall
December 19, 2023
The New York Yankees have acquired a player named after beloved former captain and Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter.
The Yankees claimed infielder Jeter Downs off waivers from the Washington Nationals, the team announced on its X account Tuesday (December 19).
"Earlier today, the Yankees claimed INF Jeter Downs off waivers from the Washington Nationals," the Yankees wrote.
Downs, 25, of Colombia, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds at No. 32 overall in the 2017 MLB Draft and later shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers before eventually making his Major League Baseball debut for the Yankees' arch rival Boston Red Sox in 2022 after being acquired in the 2020 blockbuster trade that sent Mookie Betts to the Dodgers.
Earlier today, the Yankees claimed INF Jeter Downs off waivers from the Washington Nationals.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) December 19, 2023
"Had the chance to meet @jeter2downs a few years ago (he wasn’t with the Red Sox then). Congratulations and good luck… unless you are playing the Yankees," Derek Jeter wrote on his X account amid Jeter Downs' MLB debut on June 22, 2022.
Had the chance to meet @jeter2downs a few years ago (he wasn’t with the Red Sox then). Congratulations and good luck… unless you are playing the Yankees.
— Derek Jeter (@derekjeter) June 22, 2022
Downs met Jeter during a chance encounter days before being acquired by the Red Sox. The prospect was training with Jeter's former Yankees teammate, Raul Ibanez, in South Florida.
“This last week, I was driving, me and my brother were driving to go to [the] train,” Downs told MLB.com in 2020. “We’re in traffic. My brother sees this Range Rover pulling up. He was like, ‘Oh my God, is that Jeter?’ He honks and I wave at him.
“I’m doing training with Raul Ibanez. I called Raul and said, ‘Tell [Derek] Jeter that the kid he was waving at was Jeter [Downs].’ So then he told him that and it was pretty cool that I met him that way.”
“A couple days later, the Marlins had an event at Topgolf. One of my friends was there,” Downs added. “He FaceTimed me with Jeter on the phone. We talked for like two minutes.
“It was [surreal]. I’ve idolized him my whole life. It was finally good to meet him and talk to him a little bit. It was definitely special.”
Downs has appeared in 20 total MLB games for the Red Sox (14 games in 2022) and Nationals (six games in 2023) during the past two seasons, hitting for a .182 batting average with one RBI and four walks.