Craig Mitchell -- Stephen Drew and Ike Davis

The past week the puzzle that is the Mets got a little more complex.  Ever since Stephen Drew turned down a 14.1 million dollar qualifying offer with the Boston Red Sox, Met fans and pundits in the media had the Mets and Drew matched up.  Going into the past off season two “quality” short stops were on the market and everyone pretty put them on the Mets radar. I’m talking about Jhonny Peralta and Drew.

It’s obvious that Peralta was never really seriously considered by the

Mets and even if he was this 4 year 52 million dollar contract he eventually signed with the Cardinals was way beyond the Mets budget.  Drew seemed the better match financially. There were repeated stories that he wanted 3 years, 2 years, 20 million, and 14 million. If true, Drew was out-pricing himself, not only from the Mets but with most other teams too.  When Drew re-signed with the Red Sox for 10 million last week it ended months of speculation and Met fans hope of an instant cure at short stop were dashed.

Bottom line, the Mets would be a better team up the middle immediately with Drew on the team. But he was

definitely not the long term solution. Sandy Alderson was wise in not over paying for a 31 year old barely above average short stop. Because that’s exactly what Drew is.  He has a lifetime .264 batting average and is a competent fielder. As he returns to Boston, the Mets are stuck with no immediate fix within the organization.  Ruben Tejada is obviously not the answer. He has showed that his earlier performances in 2011 and 2012 were aberrations and he is severely over-matched on the major league level.  Wilmer Flores has barely been given enough time to show what he can offer at short.  In the very small sampling he has with the Mets has hasn't hit yet, but he is expected to. His fielding has not been a hindrance yet. His range is below average and his arm is league normal, but to be honest If Flores can come near his projected potential he can easily be as valuable to the Mets at short as Drew would have been.

The fact that Drew might have been had doesn't mean that the Mets would have been better off getting him. If Alderson had say signed Drew for 2 years and 22 million dollars, the Met s would be better. But Drew is still not the Met’s long time answer. It would have been another over blown contract the Mets would have to deal with down the line. And, if playing regularly at Citi Field affected Drew’s numbers like it has some other players his trade value would plummet and the Mets could have found themselves “Stuck” with another over valued free agent who is now going on 34 years old.  While in the very best case scenario, Drew’s presence might have given the Mets some more stability and some more wins, the cons definitely outweighed the pros on this one.

That said, there is no help coming from within the Met organization. There are no prospects in the minors even close to being ready to help.

The Mets are going to have to survive and get by with Flores and Tejada unless they are willing to trade some of their pitching for a bat.  Nick Franklin in Seattle and Didi Gregorius in Arizona are possibly available, but they won’t come cheap.  Ike Davis was probably offered for one or both of them and he wasn’t enough by far.  We’re talking Montero, Mejia, deGrom or even Dillon Gee to get a return of one of those players. Stay tuned. It’s clear that short stop is the Mets most glaring area that needs an upgrade, but it’s not the only one.

Speaking of Ike Davis, in the newspaper last week, he was quoted as saying how good it is to be on a team

that wants him.  I’m still shaking my head. Make no mistake, I’m glad that Ike is happy with his new team, but to say the Mets didn’t want him is really distorted thinking. The thing is the Mets really, really wanted Ike. They gave him every opportunity. After his injury in 2011, Ike came back for 2012 and fell into a horrific slump.  Now, let’s be honest, that slump isn’t even close to a “slow start” that slump was an alarming first two months of the season that made it appear that Davis was totally lost.  After two months of horrific struggling and batting .161 as a starting first baseman batting cleanup, Ike found himself, finally, and finished the season batting .227 with 32 homers and 90 RBI. 

Now, remember this comes on top of spending the entire last two thirds of 2011 waiting for Ike to recover. So that’s a lot of waiting.  Then came 2013 and Ike had the same horrific start, only worse. Ike never really came out of it and the Mets and Ike limped along the entire season. That’s three seasons gone. The Mets waited the majority of three seasons for Davis to be the slugger they thought he was.  It seems to me, and to anyone paying attention that the Mets certainly did want Davis. I can’t think of any other major league team that would literally wait 2 ½ seasons for a hitter to come around.  Ike Davis was very much wanted. What happened was, the Mets had to finally move on.  

So what Ike Davis said in the papers last week just reads badly, like some kind of teenage break up. “I’m happy to be with a team that wants me.”  Ike always was with a team that wanted him.  The Pirates want him now too. They know of the potential that Ike holds. But I guarantee this. If Ike struggles with the Pirates like he did with the Mets the past two seasons, he will be gone. This team that wants him will send him packing. I hope it doesn’t happen. Honestly! I am a really and truly a fan of Ike. But if he struggles with the Bucs, he will be looking for another team this off season or maybe even before.

I am looking forward to seeing Davis back at Citi Field starting tonight. I think despite the comments Ike will get a warm reception with a smattering of applause. But if he goes deep or gets multiple hits the Met faithful, you know, the ones who cheered him on for three seasons waiting for him to finally get it going, will let him know that they don’t appreciate him doing for the Pirates what they waited so long for him to do with the Mets.  Let’s face it. We were expecting Ike to be more like Mark Teixeira, but instead we only got Dave Kingman.

In the immediate aftermath the Mets are still not a winning team. The parts have yet to come together. Shortstop is still a puzzle. Lucas Duda isn’t playing like an all-star at first, but isn't a disaster either.  As a matter of fact, he is easily out producing Davis so far and has sparkled in the field as well. 

So, good luck to Stephen Drew and Ike Davis. Some may say good riddance, but I’m not ready to say that. I still think Davis could very well be a superstar. But, with each week that passes where it doesn't happen, (or starts to happen), it becomes less and less likely that it will happen.  And the likelihood that the Mets will regret that both these players are not on the roster gets less and less.  Stay tuned.