After looking like one of the up-and-coming young sluggers in his first major league season in 2010, Ike Davis' 2012 appears to be the exact opposite.But what is even more perplexing is the cause. Is it the Valley Fever diagnosis finally taking it's toll? Or could it be due to Ike missing almost all of last year due to an injured ankle. There is no easy solution to this problem. Do you send him down to the minors and let him work out his problems there? Or do you continue to let him play in the majors where he has struggled all season?

Hitting a measly .162 with an on base percentage of .219 and slugging barely over .300 in 135 at bats, Davis has become the equivalent of an automatic out. With runners in scoring position he is doing even worse (which is hard to imagine), hitting at a .155 clip, a .210 on base percentage and slugging an appalling .293 Ike simply looks like a shell of his former self. If  Davis was demoted to Buffalo, it wouldn't be the first time that an established player has been sent down to AAA. The Braves sent Jair Jurrjens down earlier in the year (where he still is currently), and back in 2001 the Mets sent down pitcher Steve Trachsel who before his demotion had an ERA near 9. After he averaged an ERA in the 3.50's. The main reason why one would be against this move would be because it would possibly damage Davis' psyche. At this point with the team still surprisingly in contention, the move that is best for the team is the one that needs to be made. I personally believe that sending Ike down would be the best of both worlds. It would allow Ike to rediscover the swing that made him a legitimate Rookie of the Year candidate and would allow the Mets to take what has become a major hole in the middle of the lineup.

Ike is a key member of the future, and sending him down should allow him to regain the form that made him such a dangerous and valuable member of this team in the first place.