5
2012
Do The Red Sox Have Eyes For Ike Davis?
An article by 72MetsFan
According to Jon Heyman from CBS Sports, the Red Sox could have some serious interest in the Mets’ Ike Davis should he be available this offseason.
The Red Sox will be looking for a first baseman this winter, Heyman writes, after sending Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers in late August and seeing placeholder James Loney continue to struggle offensively.
Ike Davis has recently been a hot subject in the New York sports circuit and mostly for the speculation that he could be on his way out rather than his incredible second half performance at the plate.
Heyman say that the Mets haven’t ruled out a trade for Davis, who will be arbitration eligible for the first time and eligible for a significant raise in 2013 at a time when the GM admittedly said he has very little payroll flexibility.
Reportedly, the Red Sox had two scouts in attendance during Mets-Marlins series. Heyman adds that it’s curious the Mets would consider trading Davis, since he is by far their main source of home runs, but that Lucas Duda’s best position may also be first base and the Mets have been exceedingly very high on him and his willingness to follow their approach at the plate.
Yesterday, our editor Joe D. pressed on with his ongoing opinion that Ike Davis will be traded for whatever the Mets could get this Winter and that he is not as well liked by the organization as it may appear, and for a variety of reasons.
If they do trade him, I do hope they get an equivalent return. If we are swapping a 35-homer first baseman for a 35-homer corner outfielder who can field his position, I guess the plan would be Lucas Duda to first base. I like Duda, but not as much as I like Davis. I hope this works out for the best in the end, whatever they decide to do.
About the Author: Drew Staley
On June 1, 2012 Johan Santana officially became my favorite current Met! I'm a Queens native who grew up in the shadows of Big Shea. I was a huge Ron Darling, Dave Magadan and John Olerud fan. Honored to be a part of such a great site for Mets fans. Ya Gotta Believe!
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You know, I do think the Mets will be and should be very careful with dealing Ike. I don’t think Duda is the answer at 1B, and the only reason to deal Ike is if you vastly improve 2 spots at minimum.
A while back when the AGone stuff was going on, I would have dealt Ike to Boston if AGone and somebody else came here in a heartbeat.
I personally don’t see them dealing Ike. I’d much rather see them buy out his arbitration years with a contract similar to the ones we see all young core players sign.
The only reason to trade him is either upgrading multiple spots OR if the Mets feel April-June was not a fluke.
On a side note, I never have understood why James Loney can’t put it together. The guy seems to have all the tools but none of the results. That being said he is only 28 and has already been in the league 7 years. Only thing separating him and Duda may be the fact that Loney has played.
How about Ike has power? Loney is a free agent who’s coming off a season where he made over 6MM a year. I’m with you in that it makes no sense that he hasn’t put it together. That said, I’m taking Ike over Loney any day.
On a side note, if Alderson trades Ike to go with Duda, we are screwed. I think organizational approaches are a good idea in general, but not when they outweigh results, or when it means choosing Duda or Ike. I also have no idea what Ike would bring back, so there’s the rub. But I highly doubt he will bring back what he’s worth to this team given his youth, potential, power, glove, and still cheap salary (I’m not as worried about his arb number because we should be able to handle it even as a mid-market payroll team).
Hank you misread it. I said ” Only thing separating him and DUDA may be the fact that Loney has played.”
Ha. Sorry. Definite misread.
But what do you think about the Duda and Loney comparison?
I think Loney is supposed to have a better glove, and Duda has more power. Duda also is cheaper and has less MLB ABs, so I guess we don’t know what he is yet, as compared to Loney with the longer mLB track record.
Barring a fantastic exchange, I really want Ike to stay a Met. He has fine defensive skills at 1B, and there is no reason this guy doesn’t consistently hit 40-45 HRs every year by ratcheting up plate discipline and working on batting mechanics consistently.
We’ve all discussed rumors about his attitude problems, temperament, etc., but he usually seems to act and conduct himself like a team guy. He’s young, and there’s no reason for him not to get better and better.
Since Alderson made no bones about the fact that he wants Mets with power, why on earth would you let go of THE power hitter on the team, who also actually is able to field his position?!
Would Boston be willing to take Bay and his contract?? If so this might be worth looking into. Only because it would also free up some Wilpon dollars.
OK, first of all let me say I really don’t want to trade either one so bare with me here.
Would you trade Ike Davis +? for Will Middlebrooks+ Ellsbury? (I know the Sox have no need to do this). This allowing you to trade David Wright. That certainly would be the shake up described. Say for example you could trade Wright to the Dbacks for Upton then sign BJ Upton with the left over cash.
You certainly would remake your lineup.
Duda 1B, Murphy 2B, Tejada, SS, Ellsbury LF, BJ CF, Justin RF and C TBA?
I’m not as high on Ellsbury because he’s had one really good health season, and he’d only be a on year rental. Oh and his agent is Scott Boras so there’s a good chance he’s going to get paid. That said, The Mets and Red Sox can match up fairly well. I wouldn’t move Ike, but perhaps it’s a prelude to giving Duda a one year try-out while Wilmer Flores mans what they envision as his overall position at 1B.
I also don’t think they move Middlebrooks without getting Wright. I think their plan could be to pair young Middlebrooks with young Ike Davis. Or if they go vet, then they’d bring in a Wright type in a ship out of Middlebrooks. That said, my deal would involve Wright for Middlebrooks and maybe Saltala…strikeout but power…macchia.
that may not be the actual deal, but conceptually I agree with where I think you are going. That is, if they are going to kick over a domino, kick them all, and really remake the team. So, if you are trading Ike, just go all in and trade Wright and Dickey too, and try to remake the team as much as you can in 1 year.
Yeah but trading them for current or ready MLB players instead of prospects. We have Harvey, Wheeler and Niese now. No reason to get guys 4 years out.
Talk about a brutal right side of the IF. I could see Wally and Lenny, back in the day, dropping drag bunt after drag bunt for singles all day long. Conceptually doubles when either Duda or Murph throw a couple into the stands.
If you listened to Alderson yesterday you can figure out that we are NOT taking major money back in trades. We only have about 5 million to spend for next year. If they want Duda I would consider a trade with Boston for an infielder Mauro Gomez or young outfielder.Ryan Kalish.
Gomez has flashy numbers but he is also 27 years old, kinda reminds you of Chris Carter.
Bottom line is trading Duda alone, all we can expect back a piece with the same type of talent level. In order to improve, it would have to be Duda and a few more pieces.
Not necessarily. Perhaps you can get a Duda back that is able to play the OF instead of 1B?
O.K. maybe….just don’t know if there are any of those types out there. Would have to be a team willing to part with a defensive OF with power potential b/c they need a first baseman more.
Also looking at Gomez, the Red Sox most likely want nothing to do with Duda. There’s virtually nothing separating them. Both are 1B and have power potential and are about the same age. Only difference is one is LH and one is RH.
Somethimes you make the trade because each team would rather have the opposite side LHB Vs RHB. Duda would balance their lineup and Gomez could balance ours. Saying that< I would rather have Kalish for CF.
If you look at similar type players like Lind and many others. Based on Ike’s 32 homer season, he’s looking at a possible year one arby of anywhere between $4-6 million. It was very varied but basically that’s what similar players got in year one of arby. How are the going to afford that? It makes me believe that he will not be retained.
Whoa? Someone help me out. I just read that Duda will miss the super 2 cut off by about 3 days. Is it possible that the demotion had anything to do with arbitration for Duda?
I think it was Duda being anything but “Super” that got him demoted.
Good question – one we likely will never know the answer to.
Somewhere over the past couple of days, I heard one of the reasons for sending Duda down when they did is b/c they had decided he was not going to really improve playing RF, they wanted him to go down and play LF – and they were giving that time to Bay in LF to once and for all ‘turn his season’ around’.
Not sure I’m buying that. First, is there anyone who really believed Bay had/has anything left?
Second, if I’m not mistaken, Duda didn’t solely play LF when he got sent down. Didn’t he play some at 1st base as well?
I was looking back at this article. I have no love fest for fangraphs but I thought it was appropriate for the discussion:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/should-mets-trade-ike-davis-and-or-lucas-duda/
So in theory if you can find someone who improves the team more than the combination of Ike at 1B and Duda in LF by switching Duda to 1B and bringing in a new LF then you do the trade. If not then you don’t. Seems pretty simple.
they should be looking at every guy on the roster like that.
losing Ike would hurt at 1 spot, but if they say got back a real catcher to build around + a young CF with a great glove, that could (when combined with his replacement at 1B) make the TEAM better overall, even if you potentially downgrade at 1B.
Which I pretty much think that was what SA was saying when he stated that you can’t trade a 30 + HR hitter unless you can replace that production immediately – especially when the team had a problem with power to begin with.
This is why I don’t believe Ike is going anywhere. Sure, I believe them when they say ‘no job is safe’. All should be on the block for the right trade – but it has to make sense.
Well it all boils down to what you think can replace that production doesn’t it?
Sandy and Terry (if they are to be taken at their word) believe Duda can replace that production so anything else they get from trading Ike is gravy in that scenario.
Boston scouts must have loved Ike’s last hr to left field. Boston has an angry fan base which won’t tolerate mediocrity and Ike is their big acqusition because we (the Wilpons) can’t afford him. By the way our fnbase is conditioned to accept mediocrity. A Wright trade gets us prospects (good ones) . Ike could be our future. Wright makes after Ike’s increase about 15M than Ike. Our goal is the future and not a sentimental journey with Wright on a bridge to permanent 2nd division. So we can cut payroll : Use it to our advantage for the not too distant future. Niese is fantastic and under reasonasble contract control. SA thru ownership will sign Wright for per PR and trade Ike and Niese and we will be permanently a laughing stock team for ten years.
Our former GM, Duquette , said on the radio that he doesn’t know who projects Duda as a 30 home run guy, he sees him as a 15 home run guy…just sayin’.
And what is it about Ike that people ‘in’ the organization don’t like?
last year he hit 10 in 1/2 of a season. and this year he had 15 (14?) in what, 1/2-2/3 of a season?
so I would say that 15 is certainly on the conservative side. if anything, he has proven to be about a 20 HR guy already, with upside since he has a lot of power to tap.
Not sure how you can trade Ike and get comparable power in return. Unless it is one of several deals to be made and we end up with an OF and maybe a catcher and can an extra 15-20 HR in the line up.
…and dont forget…that a good defensive 1B has a domino effect on the 2B, SS, and 3B in terms of THEIR defense…
trading Ike away w/o getting a comparable GLOVE back hurts the ENTIRE infield…not to mention the lack of HR…
then again…
matt cerrone can give David Wright the excuse of not having protection in the lineup again and again…considering he couldnt use the dimensions, concussion, or back as an excuse this year
He hit .306, 21 HR and 93 RBI’s in a pitcher’s park.
1 – He hit 28 HR’s 2 years ago when the dimensions were bigger…
2 – dimensions have 0 to do with his increased K rate…
Now look at his numbers per month from 2009-present..
2012 – http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=wrighda03&year=2012&t=b#month
2011 – http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=wrighda03&year=2011&t=b#month
2010 – http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=wrighda03&year=2010&t=b#month
2009 – http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=wrighda03&year=2009&t=b#month
Wright is incredibly streaky…in the past 23 months, he has hit .300 or better only 8 times.
A lot of teams will want Ike Davis thanks to the fact of the LEAK he was a problem they would like to get rid of….
Problem is this:
No one HAS a 30+ HR OFer who doesn’t cost 5 times what Davis costs per year!
i guess it was really a genius idea to RELEASE Fernando Martinez despite the fact that we have a lack of OF depth…
Fernando this year hit over .300 in the minors….came to the majors and hit .265 with 6 HR from August – September
avg out over a whole season and thats 27 HR…
I found it curious as well that they removed Martinez from the 40 man roster when there were more ‘worthy’ candidates they could have removed instead.
However, this is is slash line from his ML time with Houston this season overall:
.218/.286/.386
Nothing to write home about, to be sure.
That and I read somewhere that his defense suffered, likely from the continued knee problems he has from arthritis. I can only assume the Mets just didn’t see him as a long term solution going forward.
Our stats are different but the message is the same.
well, he went 1-20 in a 4 game series and was sent down for a month…he came back and hit pretty well…
he also hit pretty well in AAA this year…over .300 with power…and again…he’s 22 year old…will cost absolutely NOTHING….and shockingly..he is not in a wheel-chair…
the whole knee theory to me seemed like the same thing met fans were yapping about with carlos beltran…
well…carlos beltran had more SB than anyone on the met roster….and played better defense than anyone in the met OF this year…on a 2 year deal…
DJ Carrasco makes the list…but not Fernando Martinez?
looks like it was political to me…same way they gave Brad Eamus the starting job in 2011 b/c he was their pick…same way they gave Hu a chance to start before Murphy..I think that Fernando Martinez being released had more to do with internal politics than merit….
Are you seriously averaging out numbers for an entire season based on what a guy in Houston did in August and September?
.237 .300 .466 .766
There, that’s his line this year. He is also LH and had knees that were already debilitating. Would I have rather had him than DJ Carrasco? Sure but come on lets make him do something first.
This isn’t about improving the team next year, this is about saving money. The organization “doesn’t like Davis for a variety of reasons”. Just like the nonsense with Pagan. They will trade him for a borderline/decent young outfielder making the league minimum.
“Yesterday, our editor Joe D. pressed on with his ongoing opinion that Ike Davis will be traded for whatever the Mets could get this Winter and that he is not as well liked by the organization as it may appear, and for a variety of reasons.”
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watch as it never happens.
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont you live at the site where 68% say we took a step forward in 2012? Go back to Comedy Central and go play with your buddy Patrick.
Boston in a unique situation. They have few long term contracts to bind them. They benefited from the new owners of the Dodgers, who not only bought that troubled franchise, but also took on several large contracts from Boston.
What will Boston do with all that freed up money? I’m thinking that they will buy a new team. I’m thinking that they will come shopping in Queens. Wright, Davis, Dickey, Thole and Bay for 5 members of the Pawtucket Red Sox. Over 40 million off the payroll for Sandy and the Prospects that the Mets so need.
Boston gets some bats made for Fenway and some credibility.
The Mets should NOT trade Ike Davis, they should keep him!………32 HRS, 90 RBI!!