Ike Davis Designated for Assignment by New York Yankees

• The New York Yankees designated recently acquired first baseman Ike Davis for assignment Saturday with starting first baseman Mark Teixeira returning from the disabled list.

New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira returned to action Saturday against the Minnesota Twins after missing most of June because of a cartilage tear in his knee. A series of cortisone and lubricant injections have allowed the 36-year-old to avoid season ending surgery and return to the Yankees lineup much quicker than most anticipated.

With Teixeira’s return, the Yankees have announced that first baseman Ike Davis has been designated for assignment to make room on the active roster. Davis signed a major league deal with the club just last week after being released by the Texas Rangers. The 29-year-old first baseman only played in eight games for the Bombers during his brief tenure, going 3-for-14 with two runs scored and an RBI.

The emergence of rookie Rob Refsnyder as a plausible option at first base this month made Ike Davis expendable even before Teixeira’s return, so this move didn’t come as a surprise. Davis understood the logic of the team’s decision, telling Chad Jennings of The Journal News, “With Tex coming back, you’ve got to make a move, and I play only first base, really. That just seems like the right move for the team.”

Other MLB clubs will now have the option to claim Ike Davis and add him to their active roster. He was a useful platoon bat as recently as last season with Oakland, so that is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. If not, Davis sounds open to remaining in the Yankee organization as much-needed first base depth.

He told Jennings Saturday, “It wouldn’t be a bad option just because you never know with injuries and stuff like that. I wouldn’t mind. Obviously you hope you don’t if someone wants you, but I wouldn’t mind being here. The short time I was here, the team was great, the guys were great, the coaching staff was really awesome. Felt pretty comfortable in the short amount of time I was here. They have a great group of guys and it was a bunch of fun.”