Ike Davis: “I Don’t Want to Get Traded”
Ike Davis does not live in a cave; he has heard all of the trade rumors connected to him since the Hot Stove portion of the baseball year opened for business. But if it were up to Davis, he would not leave Flushing.
“I just want a chance to play,” Davis told MLB.com Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo in a report posted Thursday. “Honestly, I’ve loved my time with the Mets. I’m still a Met right now and I don’t want to get traded. But that part of the game is not up to us. You want to stay, but you don’t have any say in it.”
Davis knows he had a poor 2013 — he hit just .203 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 103 games, a season in which he spent a month in the minors and a month on the disabled list.
“It’s not like an issue of not trying — I just think I was working on the wrong thing when I was trying to get out of it,” Davis said. “I can’t really blame anyone else but myself. I played terrible, that’s basically the bottom line of what happened. I’m way better than I showed.”
Davis has also heard statements from the front office that either he or Lucas Duda will be dealt. If it were up to him, Duda would be jettisoned.
“I know I’m a good baseball player and I know I’m going to play well. I wish it can be with the Mets, but it might have to be with someone else.”
There is no question about the fact that Ike Davis is a far superior player than Lucas Duda, but really, that’s not saying much. However, Davis needs to move on (Duda does as well, but that’s besides the point).
After his poor starts in each of the last two seasons, what happens if Davis opens 2014 with the Mets and goes hitless in his first two or three games? The media will be crying “Here we go again.” And Davis will press and the cycle will repeat itself.
It would not shock me if Davis goes to another team and does well. It would be even better if he could do it with the Mets, but I just don’t think that will happen.
i’ll be honest, davis hasn’t been great the last couple of years. i definitely think the talent is there though. With duda, i really can’t say the same. he just looks pretty awful at everything he does.
ike’s seasons:
2010: good
2011: started good but incomplete b/c of injury
2012: started horrible, ended well, overall not very good
2013: we know
Ike’s still very young, and overall i’d say his grade is incomplete. i really hope the mets trade duda, and upgrade 2 out of these 3 positions: LF, RF, SS.
assuming they get one power bat, one bat that can hit for average (even if not for great power), and one player that can play well on defense or offense (doesn’t matter to me), then i can settle for ike at first.
a lot of people think the mets need to turn into a world series contender this offseason, but it’s not gonna happen. considering the way citi field plays, i think one power bat to protect wright, along with another solid murphy-type bat and a solid defensive (or good obp) ss/of, would make the mets a solid team (with room for improvement next year). As you’ve noted on this blog before, the mets should have been adding one solid player each offseason, prepping for this offseason when they could make a big splash and a potential playoff run. unfortunately harvey set that back big time, so this is a more plausible approach in my opinion. It’s very hard to pinpoint specific players, considering how much work there is to be done, but that being said, there are a ton of combos that would fit the mold i’ve laid out, and i think it’s well within the budget (don’t get me started on how low that is) that’s been put out there.
Side note- i don’t blame alderson for what’s going on. he’s either stupid or lying (i personally believe he’s lying, or misleading if you don’t want to be as mean), but i really blame the wilpons for milking the mets for everything they’re worth. the budget shouldn’t be this low, but it does no good complaining at this point, so i’m trying to work within their budget
Hey Tom, the Mets just signed Chris Young – career .235 hitter to a one year deal for 7.5 million!
7.5 MILLION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just think they are now just a shortstop, another outfielder, a first baseman, a starting pitcher, and a reliever or two from fielding a team….. And who knows if the catcher can hit or stay healthy for a full season?
At least they can protect Wright in the lineup now by placing him between Young and Duda!
Somebody please take me out of my misery… 7.5 Million for a career .235 hitter that is a strikeout machine. Did the Wilpons design the Obamacare web site in their spare time?
i think you’re overexaggerating d’arnaud’s health issues. last year he broke his foot on a foul ball, which could happen to any catcher and isn’t exactly an injury prone worthy injury.
in any case, i’m under the assumption that 2b, 3b, c, and cf are taken care of. with that being said, the mets clearly need another power hitter (at least one, preferably 2, realistically 0-1), and could use another bat, even if it’s not as much power, just average. as i stated (or attempted to state), the mets’ numerous holes allows them the (slight silver lining) opportunity to be creative. they could add power at short and focus on defense in the outfield, or vice versa, or whatever. i don’t have any particular players in mind, b/c the free agents suck for the most part, and a trade would require giving up pieces which would then require sandy to be more creative. I’m not a gm so i don’t look too much into it, but i think, even with the chris young signing, the mets can make a couple of good moves and at least field a team that can compete, even if they don’t make the playoffs. I think the mets can live with ruben at ss or ike at first (one OR the other, not both) IF they upgrade the other corner OF spot and the other spot between ss/1b that they aren’t keeping ike/ruben at. however, i think it is doable, and that most fans are expecting too much this winter.
Although personally i think the wilpons are even more ridiculous than the fans if they think people should be showing up to watch this team. i try to see the mets at road ballparks to avoid paying the wilpons at all costs. it’s amazing that the wilpons expect their team to improve without investing into it. they’ve cut payroll by 90-100m the last few seasons, and they’re getting ~26 mil this year from the new tv deal, which means the chopped payroll is going straight to the owners. total bs, and they assume that no one picks up on these things
also, with regards to chris young and free agency.
1. the mets are stupid for saying that prices were “scary”. if that’s what you believe, then don’t tell the fans you’re going to upgrade the team. If you can’t afford to pay the players at market rate, then sell the team. if you don’t like the players, but want to spend, then start drafting better, b/c the mets have been pretty terrible at that. If you do want to spend and upgrade the team, then stop making headlines about how much you want to do or how much money you have (or don’t have) and just go out and act. you look like fools when you lie, and it hurts your integrity so no one wants to believe anything you say.
2. as far as the trade market, the mets seem to forget that making a trade involves giving up talent too. that being said, assuming davis is at 6m for next year and murphy is at 5m (to keep the numbers round), that would be 11m coming off the books immediately, which means taking on a 15m contract would only be adding 4m. however, just bc it’s a 15m contract, it’s “scary.” Side note: i have no idea why anyone wants to give up murphy. he tries harder than everyone else on this team, he’s got a great attitude, and he’s better than just about anyone out there. unless he’s bringing back someone that will truly be an upgrade in return, there’s no reason to dump him. it seems like the mets are just trying to get rid of him bc they consider 5m a lot, which in today’s market, it is not a lot. again, if the wilpons can’t spend the money, then sell the team.
3. as for young, at 7.5m i think he was too much. he wasn’t very good last year. he basically looks like the outfield and right handed version of ike to me (could figure it out, most likely won’t). a lot of people are saying they should platoon him, which would definitely be a mistake for that much money. relative to the mets budget, i don’t really understand spending that much on him, but at least the mets are doing something. it’s not like that money would have gone into improving the team if they hadn’t spent it on him anyway, so if he can provide more than any of the young guys, it could work (i guess).