Ike Davis’ stay in New York — and the Mets’ ill-conceived, cumbersome logjam at first base — came to an end Friday when the Amazin’s dealt Davis to Pittsburgh for minor league pitcher Zack Thornton.
The Mets will save approximately $3.1 million and get pitching prospect Thornton and a player to be named later. Davis will get a much-needed fresh start away from Flushing, and a front office that seemed bent on playing Lucas Duda.
“I really had a blast in New York,” Davis said. “I made my childhood dreams of playing in the big leagues come true here. But it’s just a stepping stone.
“It happens to a lot of people getting traded. Now I go help my team in Pittsburgh. … I’m excited to see if different scenery is better. But I haven’t done it yet, so I don’t know.’’
Davis, who is hitting .208 with a double, a homer, five RBIs and four runs scored in a dozen games this season, came up in 2010 and hit 19 homers as a rookie, missed most of 2011 after a collision with David Wright, then came back to hit 32 homers in 2012.
But, between slow starts and injury struggles, it has been a tough go since for the beleaguered first baseman. He went on the 60-day disabled list last season with a strained right oblique.
“It was fun,” he said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. I had a great time here. I just didn’t play as well as I should’ve and now I get as fresh start and hopefully I can get right back where I used to be. … I feel a lot better in the box, so I’m excited to see what I can do with more playing time.’’
This means the Mets will ride with Duda as the regular first baseman, albeit splitting time with Josh Satin.
“You can’t play a major league season with three first basemen. One of us had to go and it looked like it was going to be me for eight months now,’’ Davis said.
“I wasn’t surprised. Certainly we wish him all the best. He’s going to get a chance to play and I know that’s what he wanted,’’ manager Terry Collins said. “Lucas is the first baseman. He’s been the first baseman, and now he’s got to come out and relax, and now that there’s nobody hanging over him he can go out and relax and do the things we know he’s capable of doing.’’
General manager Sandy Alderson said the first base situation was an awkward logjam, and admitted the Mets had made up their minds months ago to go with Duda and trade Davis.
“That was a decision we made several months ago, something we revisited several times,’’ said Alderson, who felt Duda was more effective against lefties and had similar power potential.
“We’re very happy with the trade,” he added. “We’re happy for Ike in the sense that he’ll get another opportunity elsewhere. It’s a situation that we needed to resolve here. We’re happy with the return.This has gone on for some period of time, as everyone knows. The return has not increased, hasn’t diminished.’’
The Mets reportedly could have received Zach Britton for Davis in the offseason. The 26-year-old Britton is off to a 2-0 start with a 0.00 ERA for the Orioles. Now, the return is Thornton — whom the Mets passed on in the Rule 5 draft — and a player-to-be-named that Alderson seems pleased with.
“Ike will be missed,’’ David Wright said. “I think Ike would be the first one to tell you things didn’t pan out the way a lot of us thought they would in terms of production, but through thick and thin Ike’s been one of the best teammates I’ve ever had and he’s going to be missed.’’
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Thornton had a 1.23 ERA and 1.091 WHIP in 7 ¹/₃ innings at Triple-A, with one walk and eight strikeouts. Though Alderson wouldn’t get into specifics, the Mets liked his fastball and slider and impressive strikeout rate (10.2 strikeouts per nine innings).
Thornton pitched at three levels in the Pirates system last year, posting a 2.63 ERA, 90 strikeouts and just a dozen walks in 75¹/₃ innings. He will report to Triple-A Las Vegas.