Ike Davis has reportedly signed (or is signing) a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, and the thought has been that the 28 year old lefthanded hitter will be providing the Rangers with first base depth, giving the team someone at AAA who could step in at the major league level should Mitch Moreland go down.
However, Jeff Wilson tweets that he's also viewed as a potential left field option:
#Rangers look at Ike Davis as possible depth at first base and in left field, positions currently occupied by injury-prone players.
— Jeff Wilson (@JeffWilson_FWST) February 15, 2016
Davis as an option in left field seems like a longshot -- while Josh Hamilton is injury-prone, Justin Ruggiano is currently backing him up, and Patrick Kivlehan, Ryan Rua, Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo are all options on the 40 man roster.
Davis, meanwhile, has played two games in the outfield as a pro -- both in right field, both in AA in 2009. He's also not exactly fleet of foot, being 7 of 17 as a basestealer as a pro, and having just 5 triples in his pro career, the last being in 2011. While the Rangers used Mike Napoli in left field at times last year, that was an experiment that didn't seem to work that well -- and in that case, you were at least dealing with someone who hit lefthanded pitching well. Davis in the outfield would seem to be an emergency-only scenario.
Of course, I would have said the same thing about Napoli in the outfield last year. So we shall have to see...