I was just showing an over inflated example of the forces at play I was trying to convey….

It’s one thing to wait for a player to prove thierworth to you….
But it does come with some ramifications….

While you might be taking less risk on paying for something that isn’t there you also might see it is there and have to pay more than you could have….

But you are absoloutly correct to point out the difference that Reyes petty much PROVED he was a Good (and I would dare say Elite) MLB player…..He was elected to a few All Star games by that point….

Ike hasn’t (maybe he does this year now that Fielder and Pujols are gone) but if he has a very good year and gets close to 40 Hrs your going to be paying a damn site more when you decide to extend him than you might pay him right now.

And the real issue is they might not have the control long enough to wait until he DOES prove himself to the same degree Reyes did…

I’m not saying they shouldhave extended him this offseason (I would have been opposed though) Just saying if they wait for him to do something good before they do it they will pay more than they will if they did it now before the proof was proved…

I wouldn’t be comparing the current situation of Ike with Reyes. Reyes was a proven player when Sandy let him go. At times, Reyes would put the team on his back and carry them to wins. And this was before him winning the bating title.

Resigning Reyes was a no brainer – though I do agree that Sandy should have signed him up before his last season.

Ike has too much to prove right now. Let him do it. If you pay extra for him that’s a good thing because it means he’s reaching his potential.

Brad Eamus looked pretty good too once

If they were really mad at Ike, he would not have been with the big club all year.

If he goes year to year, he might get the same. or a lot more. or a lot less.

which is exactly why guys do these deals. Sets him up for life, even if he has a career ending injury, or just falls off a performance cliff and never comes close to being a 10-15 mill/year player.

and with a 5 year deal, like with Wright, he can still come out and sign another big one at ~30, if he really does become a top player.

There are two ways to look at this though….
Sure you want him to prove…But the more he proves the more you pay!

After his horrendous 1st half followed by the big hit comeback you can make a case to say you’ll never get him any cheaper than you can now and if you wait for him to prove what he can do for an entire season and he does it you could be looking at numbers that fit a 40 HR player or High Average 30 HR guy which is about as top dollar as you get in the MLB….

Think of it in hindsight with Reyes….

Sandy could have extended his contract that first year but Sandy said I want to see what you can do first!Prove to me you deserve the Big bucks….

He did! And did it so well that he was out of our price range in the end….

Probably could have got Reyes on a 6 year 65-80Mil deal right after 2010!
He waited for him to prove and he won a batting title and that drove the price to beyond what he could afford!

Same could happen here!

It’s really about the timing and how MUCH proof you need.
If you think the kid is on the cusp of a breakout year then it makes much more sense to buy him out just BEFORE he breaks out….Before the price goes up.

But I agree Ike is not yet proved anything in his two partial years and one Half and Half….
What is encouraging is that second half was pretty damn good!

Agent can refuse to do what the player asks and the Player will just fire him much like what happened with K-Rod!

As I’ve said many times, this is a really important year for Ike.

Some want to give him 60 million. I say, not yet!

he hit .174 versus lefties last year. His OPs against lefties was .560. That’s not just bad – that’s terrible.

He had a .308 on base last year and for those who say he had a better second half – well he did – but in September – the last full month of baseball – he hit .228.

In my opinion, if he signs for what Neise got, then fine. But, to me he has to prove that he won’t strike out against the sweeping breaking ball of lefties before you give him star money.

The Wilpons EASILY could’ve killed that by having Sandy tell the press that the mets are completely satisfied with the level of dedication Ike Davis shows towards the team and the fans and his movie going habits are his business.

Period

The End

Because that is EXACTLY what they would’ve done if it were David Wright.

That Said I bet there are still some leftover animosity over the trashing he took….

If I’m Ike I sure would wait till after this season to entertain a contract.

And as for people’s projections on what he might make in Arb or waht is fair for an offer, if he hits closer to 40 HRs than 30 this year your all WAY OFF on what the price will be.