When former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya drafted first baseman Ike Davis in the first round of The 2008 Major League Baseball Draft out of Arizona State University, he had visions of Davis being the future for The Mets. That future is now for Davis and The Mets. Davis quickly asserted himself in the minors which resulted in him being called up to The Mets in April 2010. Davis would finish 2010 seventh in The National League Rookie of The Year voting as he hit 19 home runs along with 71 runs batted in. Davis appeared destined to eclipse those numbers 2011 as he had 7 home runs and 25 runs batted in through 36 games played. Unfortunately for The Mets and Davis, his season came to an abrupt end on May 10 when he collided with Mets third baseman David Wright while both men were attempting to field a pop fly on the infield against The Colorado Rockies.
Davis’ 2012 campaign started off slow as he was suffering from valley fever during spring training. Davis’ batting average remained under .200 until the end of June, but he was able to hit 11 home runs up to that point. As the season has gone on, Davis has continued to show signs of life. On July 28 against The Arizona Diamondbacks, Davis hit three home runs in a loss by The Mets. On August 26, Davis hit two home runs against The Houston Astros with the second one being a walk-off home run.
After his slow start to the season, Davis now has 30 home runs which puts him in a four-way tie for sixth place in The NL coming into play on September 25. After hitting two home runs on September 24 against The Pittsburgh Pirates, Davis has now reached the 30 homer mark for the first time in his brief career. Prior to Davis, the last Met to hit 30 or more home runs in a season was Carlos Delgado who hit 38 in 2008.
Davis’ road to improvement this season has been a bumpy one with a huge road block coming last week. According to ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin, The Mets are open to trading Davis in the offseason in order to upgrade other positions on the team. The Mets reportedly were also frustrated with Davis apparently hanging out late after games and refusing to take coaching. Naturally Davis defended himself by saying that “I’ve never done anything wrong. I show up to the field every day ready to play. I really don’t even know where it is coming from, and it’s not really true”. Mets manager Terry Collins immediately came to his first baseman’s defense as he defended Davis’ work ethic. Davis was reluctant at first to change his batting stance, but since he has worked on foot placement, his numbers have gone up.
Whether the proclamation came from Met owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon or Mets general manager Sandy Alderson is unclear, but this problem needs to be nipped in the bud immediately. Fred Wilpon infamously caused a stir last May when he took shots at Wright along with former Mets Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran in an interview with The New Yorker Magazine. Subsequently Wilpon had to sit down with all three players and clear the air. Alderson has never backed away from saying that any player in The Mets clubhouse was untradable which ruffled the feathers of Wright last season.
The Mets are currently 17th in home attendance in Major League Baseball and that number will dwindle by trading Davis. At 25-years of age and five years away from free agency, Davis has to be a part of The Mets equation going forward. The Mets hurt themselves with ticket sales this season by letting Reyes walk in free agency after last season to The Miami Marlins without even offering him a contract which turned fans off from coming to Citi Field. By putting Davis’ name out there as trade bait along with Wright, The Mets would actaully become a bigger laughing stock than they already are in New York City. The team is struggling to produce hitting and Davis is the one man that has been able to hit home runs for The Mets at Citi Field. With the way that The Mets are currently constructed, they need to have at least four of five hits in an inning to score runs because they lack the big bopper in the lineup besides Davis to put fear in opposing pitchers.
At this point, The Mets should attempt to showcase outfielder Lucas Duda for a possible trade. The Mets have an abundance of left-handed hitters in their lineup. Duda is a natural first baseman who has power, but he has been forced to the outfield with Davis at first base. The Mets should try to trade Duda in order to obtain a natural outfielder as opposed to constantly putting infielders such as Duda and Jordany Valdespin in the outfield. Right now The Mets front office cannot win for trying as they are on the verge of causing more problems with a disgruntled fan base than they already have. As Wright is now within 50 home runs of being The Mets all-time leader in the category, Davis is another player that can climb up the ladder for the franchise lead as he already has 56 for his career. Met fans have long clamored to see players such as Wright and Davis play their entire careers in Flushing. When The Mets let Reyes walk after last season they took away that dream for the fan favorite at shortstop. The only way to improve is to learn from your mistakes and by the notion of putting Davis’ name on the trading block, common sense isn’t in the cards for The Mets and neither is winning.
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