Mets Cut Ties with Ike Davis, Ship 1B to Pirates

When Ike Davis failed to secure the first base job from Lucas Duda, who in many respects is a weaker defensive first baseman than Davis, the writing was on the wall that Ike was not long for the Mets and Citi Field.

On Friday, the Mets ended their turbulent relationship with Davis when they traded him to Pittsburgh for minor league reliever Zach Thorton and a player to be named later.

The trade ends months of speculation that the first baseman was on his way out. The Mets spent an entire off-season trying to trade him and failing, which led to Davis' father claiming the Mets screwed up his son's off-season.

The Davis vs. Mets battles became not only bizarre, but public. From Valley Fever to the secret injury that Davis didn't reveal until the start of Spring Training this year, it has been a wild ride. Remember when Davis shredded a New York Post reporter for breaking the story that he had withheld information from the Mets about an injury he played with all of last season? That too was another bizarre moment in Davis' stay in New York.

What made things worse for him was his inability to play consistently well. Davis never again became the hitter that showed so much promise his rookie year in 2010, when he hit 19 homers and .264. He instead became a guy who could never get his batting average over .220, sometimes he struggled to even get it to .200.

Last year he hit .205 for New York in 103 games, this year he was hitting .208 before the trade. It was time for Davis to go, and it was time for the Mets to part ways. Davis now heads to Pittsburgh; to a team that is winning, where he could settle in as either a bench player or part time first baseman. PNC Park is a lot smaller than Citi Field, so one would think that Davis will tee-off on the short porch in right for the Pirates.

As for the Mets, while the minor league pitcher they received in return may or may not ever make the major league squad, they had to unload Davis and end this nightmare.