Sunday, December 8, 2013

As Winter Meetings Begin Are Ike Davis' Days As A Met Numbered?

The Major League Baseball Winter meetings commence Monday (tomorrow), December 9, 2013. With the meetings getting under way tomorrow, will Sandy Alderson look to move one or more players?

Andy Martino reported that the Mets will actively be seeking to move discombobulated first baseman Ike Davis. The Mets believe Duda offers more...more errors, more useless hits, and more headaches? Duda has never shown he is a power hitter, and Ike showed much power his first two years. I am not saying Ike shouldn't be traded, no, I am saying I would take Ike over Duda everyday of the week. He has much more power, and is a much better glove. Yes, he strikes out too much, and has shown a complete breakdown at the plate as of last year, but he can be corrected.

Howard Johnson observed Davis recently, and was upset by what he saw of his former protege. Johnson brought up some very good points, the main one being that you can't expect a power hitter to let good pitches go by just to run a deep pitch count. A power hitter must be aggressive, and Ike is conflicted at the plate. Welcome to Money Ball and OBP.

Alderson does not want his players thinking, just to accept Sandy's philosophy on blind faith. Funny, HoJo played pro ball, Elvis didn't. It is believed that Marlon Byrd wasn't wanted back because he instructed young players to be aggressive at the plate...not an Alderson philosophy. I do have a problem with this because I want my hitter being pro active at the plate, especially with runners in scoring position. A walk with a runner on second is useless, while a single should score the run. 

There is a happy medium between super aggressive and long pitch count theories. There are times for a batter to be aggressive (runners on base, seeing the best pitch to hit, etc,) and to be  patient (making a pitcher work, tiring a pitcher out, making him throw your pitch). 

I am torn about Ike Davis. I would like to see him corrected and corrected as a Mets player, but a change of scenery might be what he needs. All I know is that I don't want Duda at 1B.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

They should trade both of them. Duda isn't the answer but since the Mets don't want to spend the ole mighty buck they will keep a fringe player