Last night Matthew talked about how it appears that the Mets are making Ike Davis into a platoon player late in the season and how, by doing so, they’re letting Lucas Duda play games at first base, which is where he really belongs.
Today Adam Rubin reports that the Mets are thinking about going one step further: getting rid of him altogether. Why? More playing time for Duda and, according to Rubin’s sources, the elimination of a potential bad egg:
The Mets are disappointed with Davis’ unwillingness to make changes based on coaching advice. Although he is personable and by no means a troublemaker, they also worry — fairly or unfairly — he is out too late after games, and that could influence other young players.
Whether that little bit was calculated to get out to the public or not, it would take some sort of P.R. campaign, methinks, for Mets fans to buy the notion that they’d be better off with Duda at first base going forward than Davis. Davis may have some trouble with lefties, but he’s 25 and has shown he can perform at a high level. Duda is a year older and doesn’t show the sort of upside that Davis has.