Mets And Davis Agree To Deal, Avoid Arbitration

Ike Davis avoids arbitration, signs for $3.125M, according to person with knowledge. That darn @adamrubinespn had it first.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughSL) January 19, 2013

Two days after inking Bobby Parnell to a one-year deal for 1.7 million dollars, the Mets have come to terms with the second of their three arbitration-eligible players. Per The Mega Powers, Andy McCullough and Adam Rubin, the Mets have agreed to terms with first baseman Ike Davis on a one-year deal worth 3.125 million dollars. Davis had filed for 3.7 million, while the Mets countered at 2.825 million. The final figure is pretty close to the midpoint of the two figures and will allow both Davis and the Mets to avoid what can occasionally be an acrimonious arbitration hearing.

Davis was a super-two, so this will be the first of four arbitration years for the first baseman. He was coming off a season where he batted just .227/.308/.462, but arbiters often give more weight to counting stats, and Davis' 32 home runs and 90 RBI would have played well in a hearing. Dan Symborski's ZiPS projection system has him posting a .245/.328/.453 line in 2013, good for 1.9 WAR. This somewhat conservative result (mostly due to the playing time projection) would still make Davis a relative bargain at just over three million dollars, but as Chris McShane noted yesterday, Davis has been worth just a hair under 3 fWAR per 600 plate appearances and is coming off a second half where he batted .256/.346/.542 with 20 home runs.

The Mets' agreement with Davis leaves second baseman Daniel Murphy as the only arbitration-eligible player yet to come to terms.