According to a report from the Dominican Republic the Seattle Mariners have agreed to a four-year deal with Nelson Cruz worth $57 million dollars. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN confirmed the report and added that the deal is still pending a physical.

Cruz, 34, led the majors with 40 home runs this year while driving in 108 runs, slugging .525 and posting a 140 OPS+.

Also, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they have acquired infielder Sean Rodriguez from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for a player to be named later and cash considerations.To make room for Rodriguez, first baseman Gaby Sanchez was designated for assignment.

Rodriguez, 29, was designated for assignment by the Rays last week and is projected to earn $2 million in arbitration. He batted .211 with a .258 on-base percentage last season with 12 homers and a .443 slugging percentage.

The post Hot Stove: Mariners Sign Nelson Cruz, Pirates Acquire Sean Rodriguez appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

David Schoenfield of ESPN.com included Ike Davis among the five players he says are entering their make or break seasons in 2014. He writes:

Davis got off to a horrible start and was hitting .161 in June when he was demoted to the minors. He straightened out his mechanics in Triple-A and hit .267/.429/.443 the rest of the way, until a strained oblique finished his season at the end of August. 

After signing Curtis Granderson and Chris Young, the Mets will thankfully move Lucas Duda out of the outfield, setting up a spring training battle with Davis at first base. Duda hit .223, so this won’t exactly be a McCovey-Cepeda situation going on here.

I still like Davis, although it’s probably time to admit he’ll never hit lefties. As a platoon first baseman, his value rests in a good eye at the plate, which can give him a respectable on-base percentage despite a low batting average. Still, he’s prone to long slumps, as in the first half of 2013 and the first half of 2012. The Mets are probably wary of Davis by now, so look for Duda to win the job and Davis to be shopped around. He’d be a good fit for the Pirates, who need somebody to platoon with Gaby Sanchez. Either way, if Davis doesn’t win a regular job, he’ll probably drift into a Russell Branyan-like vagabond career, going from team to team as a fill-in first baseman.

… It’s funny how so many view this as Ike’s make or break season. Last year at this time, I felt 2013 was Ike’s do or die season. After a 2012 that saw him stink it up in the first half, Davis finished strong but still only batted .227/.308/.462 with 141 strikeouts in 519 at-bats.

Either way, Davis will get a third opportunity to redeem himself. Since his 149 glorious plate appearances in 2011 when he batted .302/.383/.543, Ike has whiffed 242 times in his last 836 at-bats. Ouch…

I’m in the minority among my staff and there are many like John Bernhardt who believe Ike will turn it around and have a solid campaign this season. I hope they’re all right.

The post It’s Make Or Break Time For Ike Davis appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

On Monday, the Pirates announced that have acquired first baseman Chris McGuiness from the Texas Rangers for righthander Miles Mikolas.

McGuiness, 25, is coming off his first Triple-A season where he batted .246 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI in 104 games last season for Round Rock. His plate discipline led to an on-base percentage of .369 and an OPS of .792. He also made his Major League debut last season, appearing in 10 mid-June games with the Rangers. In McGuiness, the Pirates get the left-handed bat they were looking for to platoon with Gaby Sanchez.

The trade likely impacts the market for Ike Davis as the Pirates were one of three teams who had reported interest in the Mets first baseman. the other two being the Orioles and Brewers.

The Mets unsuccessfully tried to get pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez from the Orioles for Davis, but were turned down. The O’s said they would need to be blown away to deal their young pitching prospect.

Sandy Alderson continues to hold out for a young pitcher for Davis, even if it means keeping him. My guess is that if Davis becomes the power hitter he’s been projected to be for another team, Alderson wants to make sure he gets a top arm out of it.

Seeing Davis become a 35+ home run hitter elsewhere would definitely sting. But will a team deal a top prospect on a hunch that Ike could be that guy? That’s the dilemma.

The Ike Davis rumors first caught fire at the GM Meetings and then again at the Winter Meetings when Sandy Alderson had several conversations with Brewers GM Doug Melvin in a trade for their young pitching prospect, Tyler Thornburg. However, those discussions fizzled out when the Brewers balked at the suggestion.

Surprisingly, there hasn’t been as much interest in Davis as many expected. Now 27, the former first rounder batted .205 last season with 101 strikeouts in 317 at-bats, and has also seen a decline in his defense.

It’s unclear just how serious or active talks are with the O’s and Brewers right now. But both teams are also reportedly looking at other options like Kendrys Morales, Mitch Moreland and Mike Carp.

Jorge Castillo of the Star-Ledger wrote today, that while Lucas Duda is also a left-handed-hitting first baseman teams may want, Mets officials have emphasized trading Davis isn’t mandatory. But given their public stance on trading a first baseman, they would like to before players report for spring training in mid-February.

The post Latest On Ike Davis And His Shrinking Market appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

12/18 Update 10:15 AM

I asked John Perrotto to expand on a post he made on Twitter saying that he heard Mets wanted want a big arm (such as Nick Kingham) from the Pirates in an Ike Davis trade.

After I said it sounded like speculation, Perrotto was kind enough to respond and say that the Mets in fact “have asked about Kingham in talks.”

He also added that the Pirates would want more than just Davis – a “sweetener” as he called it. Additionally he writes, “I can’t imagine them trading Kingham for Davis AND paying him $3.5 million or so in arbitration.”

Kingham is Pittsburgh’s third best pitching prospect, according to Baseball America. He pitched in High-A and Double-A last season, tossing 143.1 innings and posting a 2.89 ERA, 1.17 WHIP with 144 strikeouts and 44 walks.

12/17 Update 9:30 PM

Further validating my point from this afternoon that absolutely nothing was happening on the Ike Davis front, were these very telling comments from Brewers GM Doug Melvin via Tom Haudricourt.

I just checked in with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin to see how it’s going on the hunt for a first baseman, and it doesn’t sound as if much has changed since he left the winter meetings last Thursday in Orlando.

“It’s pretty quiet,” said Melvin. “We know all the names. It’s a small group. Nothing changes from one day to the next. Ike Davis is the one player people talk about. Other than that, there’s not much available.”

Melvin referred to the New York Mets first baseman who has been on the trading block this winter. The Brewers talked at least twice with the Mets at the winter meetings about Davis but word was New York wanted a young pitching prospect such as Tyler Thornburg. The Brewers aren’t of the mind to give up a young pitcher with that kind of potential for Davis, an all-or-nothing offensive performer who mostly did nothing in 2013.

The Mets apparently have not come down on their asking price or a deal could have been done by now.

As for other trade possibilities, Melvin said, “Teams aren’t focused on moving guys right now. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way things are.

“We all have our own searches going on to try to have a complete team. Ours is at first base. We keep plugging away at it but we might  have to mix and match with some of our own players.”

So there’s that…

It takes two to tango…

It’s tough to make a deal when one side sticks to it’s guns and the other side says “you gotta be kidding me.”

Now batting number five for the Mets, Ike Duda… Or Lucas Davis… Take your pick…  🙂

12/17 Update 5:00 PM

The Pirates have interest in first basemen  Ike Davis and Mitch Moreland, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Davis, as you know, has also been linked to the Brewers, but that buzz has died down considerably. I mean nothing, nada, zilch…

MMO’s Clayton Collier covered Sandy Alderson’s media briefing today, and the Mets GM said mum’s the word.

“We’re still talking with a number of teams,” he said. “I can’t say anything will happen.”

I don’t see anything happening until after the holidays.

12/16 Update 1:00 PM

I can’t recall another time when a team was so open about trading a player as the New York Mets currently are with sending Ike Davis out of town. Anywhere. To anybody.

The Mets hope the market for Davis warmed with Tampa Bay retaining first baseman James Loney. The Rays, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Houston and Pittsburgh were in need of a first baseman when the Hot Stove season began, but Loney and Corey Hart are now off the market.

The Orioles, Pirates and Astros have not been active talking with the Mets, but GM Sandy Alderson has been in frequent contact with Brewers GM Doug Melvin.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, identifies the Pirates, Brewers and Astros as three teams still shopping for a first baseman, and at least four are available in trade he says — the Rangers’ Mitch Moreland, Blue Jays’ Adam Lind, Mets’ Ike Davis and Mariners’Justin Smoak. He assesses each team’s situation:

The good news for the Pirates is that all four could be a left-handed complement for Gaby Sanchez (Smoak is a switch-hitter).

The Brewers, too, are in an advantageous negotiating position, though they might choose to take a look at Hunter Morris, who has hit 52 homers at Double A and Triple A the past two seasons. Morris, like Juan Francisco, is a left-handed hitter.

The Astros could look at the Nationals’ Tyler Moore, who played for ‘Stros manager Bo Porter in Washington when Porter was a coach with the Nationals.

Rosenthal also reports that the Rays could have traded for any of the available first basemen (none of whom projects to earn more than $3.5 million this season), but they liked Loney better than any of them, and preferred not to lose a prospect in a deal for a lesser player.

Meanwhile, Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy reports the Brewers are more likely to acquire a first baseman via a trade, and while the options are not limited to the Mets, the fact that Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin and New York GM Sandy Alderson met multiple times during the Winter Meetings says that that the sides see the opportunity for a fit.

The Mets proposed a swap of Davis for right-hander Tyler Thornburg this week, but the Brewers turned it down.

McCalvy also adds that other first basemen potentially available in trades are Mike Carp of the Red Sox and Adam Dunn of the White Sox.

I’ve been hearing Carp’s name come up a lot this past week, and while the Red Sox prefer to hang onto him, they are not unwilling to move him if the right offer came along.

The post Mets Asked Pirates For Pitching Prospect Nick Kingham For Ike Davis appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

In 2012, Ike Davis was rusty because he had missed so much playing time in 2011.

In 2012, the hitting approach impacted Ike Davis negatively.

In 2012, Ike Davis didn’t have enough lineup protection or he was shuffled around the order too much.

In 2012, Ike Davis should have been sent to the minors but instead he was allowed to “work things out” at the big league level, and that move allowed fans and coaches to believe Davis was magically fixed.

Sure, Davis showed significant signs of improvement during the later part of 2012. Realistically though, he wasn’t fixed in 2012. He was still striking out and hitting for a low average. For some reason we decided to accept that type of performance merely because he 27 HR from June 1^st on.

Regardless of the power he found, he was still a .252 hitter from June 1^st on. I’m not sure when that became acceptable from a guy we all expected to be a top 3 1B in the National League – but I’m done giving Davis the benefit of the doubt.

Davis was able to use every excuse in the book to explain his embarrassing 2012 season, and he took those opportunities in February with The Star-Ledger.

“I’m definitely more ready to play this year, I’m not worried about my ankle. I didn’t miss a year. I’m definitely in a baseball flow so I’m excited.”

“Every time you come back from an injury and you don’t do very well for a long period of time, you’re like ‘Did I lose what I once had?’” Davis said. “You start second-guessing yourself. Then, obviously, I started feeling better and I said, ‘OK, I can do this again. I didn’t lose my talent or lose my skill.”

Hitting coach Dave Hudgens even joined in,

“He’s capable of doing that, he didn’t have that same rhythm and timing that he was so used to in the game because he was off so long. When you’re off that long and then you come back and try to do the same thing, sometimes it just doesn’t feel right.”

And now fast forward to 2013, according to WFAN’s Craig Carton Ike Davis who was supposed to be a cornerstone player for the franchise gets angry at the organization for not calling him up after a few good games in Las Vegas?

This organization went above and way beyond what they should have done to protect Ike Davis. He should have been sent down in May last year and in April of this year after déjà vu struck. But after 13 Triple-A games, Davis thinks he deserves to be back ahead of Zach Lutz?

Whether the story is 100% accurate or not, the truth is Ike Davis lost his opportunity to be an everyday 1B with no questions asked. He’s not the guy we all thought he’d be. Top 1B don’t need to go to AAA at age 26 to fix a swing, not an approach. It has nothing to do with the boogey man known as “the approach”.

According to Terry Collins, Davis isn’t working on philosophy – he’s working on mechanics with Las Vegas hitting coach George Greer.

“They are trying to calm the hitch down, not have it so big. They are trying to keep his upper body back, behind the baseball a little more, keep his head in a little bit better. His stride has got him to where he is kind of lunging, so they’ve got him on the plate a little bit better. Keeping his front hip in, instead of having it fly, which sometimes can cause his shoulders to come off the ball. The grip of the bat has helped him free up his hands a little bit.”

I am tired of all of the excuses, and anybody who thinks Davis deserves any more than what he’s been given. He has proven to me that he is not the player we thought he was. He’s shown me that he’s just another Gaby Sanchez. A player who did just enough to make us think he’d be around for years to come.

The Mets and all of us thought we had a 1B for the next several years to build around, and until I see Davis put together a 162 game season worth talking about and not yelling about, that 1B’s name is either Wilmer Flores or Lucas Duda.

The post This Time – It’s About Mechanics Not Excuses With Ike appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

In the National League this year, many rookies have come out of the gates to have phenomenal years. Starlin Castro, Gaby Sanchez, Pedro Alvarez, Buster Posey, Jason Heyward and the Mets own Ike Davis. To prove my case, I’m gonna debunk all the other contestants.

Starlin Castro has hit for absolutely no power, but has the highest batting average. He has also committed 27 errors at shortstop, and despite his average only scored 51 runs. He is just 20 years old, so this performance is great. He hits for contact, but doesn’t have patience at the plate.

Pedro Alvarez has hit for MAJOR power, slugging 16 home runs in 343 at-bats. He has also managed to strikeout 118 times. Pedro is striking out in 33% of his at-bats, and isn’t doing himself any favors with the 37 walks and 17 errors, giving him a .938 fielding percentage. If he keeps “growing”, he’ll get the Miguel Cabrera treatment, except  Cabrera was a phenomenal hitter at 20.

Gaby Sanchez has personally killed the Mets on numerous occasions, and for the season is hitting .274 with 19 home runs. He doesn’t walk much, isn’t a great fielder and is the oldest of the prospects at 27. Sanchez winning would be a major dark horse candidate since he doesn’t have the name recognition.

Buster Posey has been as advertised, hitting 17 home runs in 398 at bats, and playing great defense. Based on name recognition, his team being a major playoff contender and playing at a premium position, he is a major front-runner.

Jason Heyward has been good, and I saved him for last for a reason. I’m going to list two players stats, and one will be Ike Davis and the other will be Jason Heyward

Player A: .265, 19 Home Runs, 71 RBI, 73 Runs, 72 Walks, 138 Strikeouts,3 stolen bases, 9 errors, .993 fielding percentage

Player B: .275, 19 Home Runs, 71 RBI, 82 Runs, 90 Walks, 126 Strikeouts, 10 stolen bases, 6 errors, .975 fielding percentage

Without even getting into the meat-and-potatoes, those stat lines mirror each other. Player B has the advantage by a large number only in the walks category, with everything else being within 15 or .10 of each other. Surely that can’t mean much, can it? Well, lets find out our contestants.

Player A is Ike Davis, playing a premium position and according to UZR, the hands-down best defensive first-baseman in the lineup. Player B is Jason Heyward, playing right field ranking him 13th amongst outfielders, approximately ten positions from Angel Pagan, and two away from Mets legend Jeff Francoeur. For all the hype on Heyward, despite the age difference – minus some of the walks, they’ve been essentially the same player. The Mets batting order was horrible, with Jeff Francoeur hitting behind Ike Davis, and when it wasn’t Frenchy it was Jason Kay…er…Bay. Heyward’s runs were assisted by Troy Glaus and Brian McCann being phenomenal hitters, the polar-opposite of the duo of Frenchy and the Canadian.

Now, as Mets fans its only right to root for our own guys. In this case, however rooting for Ike Davis wouldn’t be a short-sighted pick. He has been batting in the top-half of the order since he first came up practically, has had no protection behind him for the duration of the season and has played spectacular overall defense, in addition to the three rail catches, saving numerous errant throws from David Wright and Jose Reyes.

What is even more amazing, is Ike Davis doing this in the New York market, hearing it from bloggers, news writers and ESPN or SNY when he goes 0-4, and questioning his overall value. The rookie of the year offensively should be one of the most important contributors to his team as a whole, and Ike Davis truly has been.

Can someone ignore the person (Davis) who has kept up with the best prospect in baseball (Heyward) almost stride for stride? I know I can’t.

The post Ike Davis For NL Rookie Of The Year appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Mejia earned a spot on the roster with a blazing fastball that in fact he gave us a glimpse of during his one inning of work. The 20-year-old was hitting 97 on the radar gun and throwing strikes during his stint, but more important than that was he displayed composure after getting into trouble.

You could see why everyone loves his make-up and his stuff which was indeed eclectic. here is a rundown of how his inning played out:

• His first pitch was a 95-mph called strike to Cody Ross, but his second pitch was lined to right-center for a single.
• His third pitch was then ripped for a double by Gaby Sanchez, putting Marlins on second and third with none out.
• His next three pitches featured a 97-mph fastball that struck out the pitcher, Ricky Nolasco  for the first out.
• His first pitch to Chris Coghlan was lined up the middle for an RBI single.
• He then retired Cameron Maybin, who hit into a force play.
• His last batter was the dangerous Hanley Ramirez who he induced to ground to short.

Before all the naysayers jump up and shout “I told you so” or “He belongs back in the Minors”, let me say this..

Mejia still looked like the sharpest tool in the shed (bullpen) last night.

I saw flashes of future greatness, and would still maintain that after K-Rod (who was great last night), Mejia might be the best reliever we have right now.

I bet he goes out there and knocks them dead in his next appearance.

The post Despite Results, Jenrry Mejia Looked Good Out There appeared first on Metsmerized Online.