Ike Davis is just a few years removed from a highly productive season when he hit 32 home runs for the Mets and looked to be a big-time up-and-comer as a first baseman.
Then, the next season, he was back in the minor leagues.
Now, he's getting another chance to pick up with a new club after he played briefly with the A's last season thanks, in part, to a familiar face now running the Rangers on the field. He's set to sign a minor-league deal with the Rangers with an invite to big-league spring training, as first reported by CBS Sports' Jon Heyman.
Davis spent part of the 2014 season with Pirates, where Rangers manager Jeff Banister was a bench coach for former Rangers hitting coach-turned-Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. In his 239 at-bats last year with the A's, he hit .229 with a .652 OPS.
The plan for Davis isn't to be a key contributor. If things go well and as planned for the Rangers, he won't be needed. He's mainly being brought in as insurance in case either Mitch Moreland or Prince Fielder goes down with injury, and the former of those two is pretty much a lock for one stint on the disabled list per year, at least, last year notwithstanding.
