The Mets are still coming up short in their quest to bring back a young arm in return for Ike Davis.
The Mets have asked the Orioles for pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez in their trade talks for first baseman Ike Davis, but Baltimore is unwilling to move the young lefty at this point, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post.
![]()
More from our team sites ![]()
Puma says the Mets are still engaged with the Orioles concerning Davis and they are also speaking with the Brewers and the Pirates about a possible trade. The Mets appear to be focused on getting a pitching prospect in return for the 26-year-old slugger. In addition to asking Baltimore about Rodriguez, New York also pressed the Brewers for 25-year old Tyler Thornberg back in early December, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Thus far, neither team has been willing to give up the arms the Mets are asking for in exchange for Davis.
The Brewers and Orioles hesitation in understandable given Davis' struggles over the past two season. In 2012, Davis began the season in a major slump, hitting just .201/.271/.388 in the first half of the season and prompting the team to consider demoting him. In 2013, he repeated the same pattern with even more extreme results. He hit .165/.255/.250 over the first half. This time he was sent down to Triple-A in early June and he spent a month there before returning for just 105 plate appearance in the second half. In that limited sample, he hit .286/.449/.505.
Despite his struggles, Davis continues to intrigue teams with his power and patient approach at the plate. He has walked 12.1 percent of the time in his career and posted an Isolated Power of .192. In 2012, he finished fifth in the National League in home runs with 32.
20-year-old Eduardo Rodriguez split the 2013 season between High-A and Double-A and posted a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings across the two levels. Though the Orioles are reluctant to part with him for Davis, they still may be able to provide the Mets with a promising young arm. Rodriguez's teammate in Double-A Bowie, 23-year-old righty Mike Wright has also generated interest from teams in recent months, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN.com.
More from SB Nation MLB:
• SP Masahiro Tanaka coming to MLB | Teams that need him most
• Brisbee: Forgettable baseball stories of 2013
• Goldman: Quick thoughts on the Hall of Fame ballot
• Rangers introduce Shin-Soo Choo | 2013-14 MLB free agent tracker
• The best free agents remaining by position
• Death of a Ballplayer: Wrongly convicted prospect spends 27 years in prison