Draft and minor leagues The
New York Mets drafted Jefferies out of high school in the first round, with the 20th selection of the
1985 MLB draft. Jefferies hit .331 in his first year in the minor leagues, moving from
Kingsport of the
Appalachian League (rookie) to
Jackson of the
Texas League (AA) in two years. He was named
Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year for both 1986 and 1987, becoming the first player to receive that distinction in consecutive years. The Mets decided they needed to make room for Jefferies, but didn't know where to play him, as the veteran team was full at the spots Jefferies played in the minor leagues (shortstop, third base and second base). The outfield was full as well, with the team finding it difficult to get outfielders
Lenny Dykstra and
Mookie Wilson playing time alongside
Darryl Strawberry and
Kevin McReynolds, so Jefferies was sent to
Triple-A Tidewater to start the 1988 season. After spending most of the 1988 season at Triple-A, hitting .282, Jefferies was recalled at the end of August and allowed to play out the year as a starter, mostly at third base. He responded by hitting .321 over the last 29 games of the
1988 season. The team had an MLB-best 24–7 record after his debut and finished with a league-best 100 wins en route to the
National League East title. The Mets made a full-time roster spot for Jefferies when they traded
Wally Backman to the
Minnesota Twins, leaving second base open for Jefferies. But Jefferies faltered, hitting .258 with little selectivity as a rookie in
1989. During a game against the
Philadelphia Phillies on September 27, 1989, Jefferies was the last batter to ground out before the Mets lost the game. Jefferies then heard some unkind comments from his former teammate
Roger McDowell and charged the mound, starting a bench-clearing brawl. In response to criticism from teammates, on May 24, 1991, Jefferies pleaded his case in an open letter read on sports radio station
WFAN. In the letter, Jefferies wrote: "When a pitcher is having trouble getting players out, when a hitter is having trouble hitting, or when a player makes an error, I try to support them in whatever way I can. I don't run to the media to belittle them or to draw more attention to their difficult times. I can only hope that one day those teammates who have found it convenient to criticize me will realize that we are all in this together. If only we can concentrate more on the games than complaining and bickering and pointing fingers, we would all be better off." In 2020, Jefferies denied having written the letter but did not reveal who wrote it. Jefferies batted .285 with 75 RBI, then a career-high, in his lone season in Kansas City.
St. Louis Cardinals (1993–1994) In February 1993, the Royals traded Jefferies and minor league outfielder Ed Gerald to the
St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder
Félix José and infielder
Craig Wilson. Jefferies had his two best seasons, batting .342 and .325, respectively, while playing first base and being named to the National League All-Star team in both
1993 and
1994.
Philadelphia Phillies (1995–1998) Jefferies signed a four-year, $20 million contract () with the
Philadelphia Phillies after the 1994 season. At the time, the contract was the largest in Phillies history. He chose to leave St. Louis because the Cardinals would not give him a no-trade clause. He moved to the outfield for the Phillies, where he performed adequately over the
1995,
1996 and
1997 seasons, but injuries to his thumb and hamstring hampered his effectiveness. On August 25, 1995, in a game vs. the
Los Angeles Dodgers at
Veterans Stadium, Jefferies became the first Phillie to hit for the cycle since
Johnny Callison in 1963.
Anaheim Angels (1998) In 1998, Jefferies was traded mid-season to the
Anaheim Angels, where he hit .347 in 19 games before moving to the
Detroit Tigers the
next year.
Detroit Tigers (1999–2000) Jefferies hit a collective .231 for the Tigers over two seasons before he retired in
2000 due in part to a severed right
hamstring. Tigers manager
Phil Garner offered Jefferies the
bench coach job for 2001 but he declined. For his career, Jefferies had a career .289 batting average with 126 home runs, 663 RBIs and 196 stolen bases. In 2020, he told the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was "absolutely not" content with what he accomplished in his career. ==Personal life==