With Adam Rubin’s report citing a baseball source that the Mets are open to trading Ike Davis this winter, the offseason rumor mill has officially started spinning. Now, please keep in mind that I’m not necessarily opposed to the team trading Davis away, and while its comforting that the team’s front office is prepared to make changes, this particular change doesn’t necessarily add up for a variety of reasons.
The most intriguing part of Rubin’s scenario is that the Mets are upset with Davis’ ability to accept instruction. Furthermore, Rubin’s source indicates that the team is unhappy with the idea that Ike’s late night activities are impacting his ability to play good baseball. Each would be a realistic gripe. Specifically its reasonable to think that Davis may have pulled out of his early season slump if the supposed claims were true, however in my opinion that it’s nonsensical to think that we wouldn’t have caught wind of such problems before the team went as far as considering the removable of the man who was considered the first baseman of the future just six months ago.
Another piece of this puzzle which doesn’t quite jive for me is the idea that an attitude issue would grease the wheels for Ike’s exit. If I recall correctly, Lucas Duda’s mid-season demotion was due in part to a very similar attitude problem. Now suddenly the Mets will overlook one discretion for another? Let us not forget that Ike Davis was mired in an epic slump at season’s start and didn’t face the same Triple-A fate as Duda, but now that Davis has pieced together a somewhat palatable season he has to go?
I could keep going… Both first baseman with power potential, it was Davis who projected to be the better major leaguer and Duda who seemed to over achieve. Despite the fact that Duda’s career numbers are slightly higher than Davis’, it is Ike who both plays superior defense and who has been given an opportunity to excel in his chosen position while Duda has, until recently, been relegated to the outfield. The writing simply hasn’t been on the wall for a sudden change of heart at the organizational level.
Again, remember that I’m not necessarily against trading Ike Davis, or anyone on the current roster for the record for that matter. I am however against the idea that the Mets are prepared to jettison one of their most promising players over what appears to be a sudden set of circumstances. The Mets need to make roster changes, and Ike Davis undoubtedly has a higher trade value than Lucas Duda. If that’s the reason the Mets decide to trade Davis than so be it, but the situation described by Adam Rubin’s baseball source simply doesn’t make sense. Tough decisions must be made, and this may turn out to be one of them, but I sincerely hope the team makes them for the right reasons…
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