The Mets are a better team today than they were on the last day of the season. Chris Young and Curtis Granderson add a certain something that has been missing from recent Met outfields. They do a lot to help the Mets, but there is this nagging feeling that the Mets are still missing a vital piece of the puzzle.
It seems to start the season, the Mets will have one major offensive hole in their lineup on opening day. MLB Depth Charts has a pretty accurate listing for the Mets (who currently like Juan Lagares more than Eric Young Jr.). As they are now the Mets do not have a single good leadoff option on the team. This leads people to consider moving Daniel Murphy.
For who?
Baltimore Orioles – They’ve got the newly acquired Jemile Weeks and I don’t know that I’d be eager to swap Murphy for J.J. Hardy. Their top shortstop prospect is in A+.
Boston Red Sox – They have Dustin Pedroia on second, Will Middlebrooks at third and Garin Cecchini set to come up as well. Deven Marrero is in AA but isn’t quite what the Mets are hoping for.
New York Yankees – They would love Murphy. He could play second for them or fill in at third or first in the event of an injury. The Yankees simply don’t have pieces the Mets would want. No… I don’t want Mason Williams, Slade Heathcott or Tyler Austin.
Tampa Bay Rays – They would like to get a 1st baseman more than a Utility guy. This means the Mets could pursue a swap of Ike Davis for Yunel Escobar. That doesn’t solve the leadoff issue but it improves the team’s overall hitting.
Toronto Blue Jays – With the contracts the Mets have handed out, a swap of Murphy for Jose Reyes would no longer work. The Blue Jays would need to eat a substantial part of Reyes’ contract and Murphy isn’t exactly the missing piece.
Chicago White Sox – The White Sox have Gordon Beckham at second and Conor Gillespie at third. I could see them wanting Murphy… I could even see a Murphy for Alexei Ramirez trade. I’m not sure that’s in the best interest of the Mets though.
Cleveland Indians – They say Asdrubal Cabrera isn’t available, but is that the case? They have Francisco Lindor, Ronny Rodriguez and Dorssys Paulino whiling away in the minors and Murphy looks to be a better hitter than Lonnie Chisenhall. I don’t think the Indians would trade Cabrera for Murphy, but I do think they’d trade Cabrera.
Detroit Tigers – Nope. Ian Kinsler at second, Nick Castellanos at third and Miguel Cabrera at first means that they have no need for Murphy.
Kansas City Royals – Maybe they’d want Murphy. Between Mike Moustakas fumbling with the starting role, Emilio Bonifacio being a role player and their wealth of shortstop talent something could be worked out. The issue would be that the Royals would be looking to trade one of their prospect shortstops and the Mets need a player for 2014.
Minnesota Twins – They have nobody the Mets would want.
Houston Astros – Would not make sense for Houston.
Los Angeles Angels – The Angels are looking to trade Howie Kendrick. They don’t need Murphy.
Oakland Athletics – A swap of Jed Lowrie and Murphy would make sense to me, but that would require Oakland to find a shortstop until Addison Russell was ready.
Seattle Mariners – The Mariners are looking to move Nick Franklin. That could fit the Mets needs but at the same time they don’t seem to need Murphy. Perhaps Josh Satin would be useful to them as they should be looking for a solid righty bat.
Texas Rangers – If the Rangers were willing to eat the majority of the money, then a trade for Elvis Andrus would make a lot of sense for the Mets. It’s not a needed move from the viewpoint of Texas though. If money could be worked out, Andrus would be the ideal acquisition for the Mets for the top of their lineup.
Atlanta Braves – They happen to have no need for Murphy.
Miami Marlins – If they wanted Murphy in place of Greg Dobbs I wouldn’t blame them, but they don’t have the pieces we’d want back.
Philadelphia Phillies – They don’t want Murphy and they don’t have players we’d want.
Washington Nationals – They have Danny Espinosa who they’d gladly trade for Murphy but that would be ripping the Mets off. Perhaps the Mets could look into a trade of other players for Espinosa.
Chicago Cubs – They have Starlin Castro and could trade him but I doubt they’d want Murphy. I would see if some combination with Murphy could snag him but I’d bet any offer lacking Noah Syndergaard would be ignored.
Cincinnati Reds – They are considering moving Brandon Phillips… not a match.
Milwaukee Brewers – They would like Murphy, Davis or maybe Lucas Duda but they don’t match up terribly well right now. Maybe they could be involved in a three team trade.
Pittsburgh Pirates – They would like Davis or Duda but it wouldn’t be for much of an impact player.
St. Louis Cardinals – Not a match for Murphy.
Arizona Diamondbacks – They don’t need Murphy but they do have Chris Owings and Didi Gregarious. They’d mostly be interested in pitching.
Colorado Rockies – No need of Murphy etc… they signed Justin Morneau.
Los Angeles Dodgers – They are the best match for Murphy with regard to need, but they don’t match in terms of what they have to give. Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier could be available but the Mets have a revamped outfield now. Dee Gordon could be a change of scenery guy but Murphy is worth a lot more than that. If you dip into the minors Corey Seager and Joc Pederson are interesting but Alderson wants to make this move to help the Mets now.
San Diego Padres – They have Chase Headley and Jed Gyorko. They don’t need Murphy.
San Francisco Giants – Murphy would be useful as a super sub, but the Giants don’t have a solid leadoff hitter to trade back. It’s not a match.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that there is no market for Murphy and that the Mets can expect him back at second to start 2014. This is a mixed blessing as Alderson will need to hope he can fill the remaining voids with trading Davis and perhaps one of the pitching prospects. We’ll see what he manages. As I see it the Mets could wind up with Yunel Escobar, Alexei Ramirez, Asdrubal Cabrera, Nick Franklin, Elvis Andrus, Starlin Castro, Chris Owings, Didi Gregarious or Dee Gordon by the start of 2014, but it’s equally likely they are running out Ruben Tejada.
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The Braves have no need for Murphy? Is this because you honestly believe they will bring back Dan Uggla?
I don’t see a market for Uggla either
Alderson isn’t limited to just one trade an off-season. He could deal Murphy for someone like Joc Pederson and then trade Davis for a leadoff bat.
Or he could keep Murphy, trade Davis and trade either Duda or Flores to an AL team, with the other manning first base.
History and human nature limits Alderson. Typically, GM makes less than 1 trade an offseason (although one could argue this season is abnormal). Trades are fun for fans to discuss and speculate, but in practice they don’t occur that often.
I see Davis or Duda being traded and Murphy staying put.
That’s what I’d like. I do think Duda has potential. He just needes to be more aggressive. I think Ike has had his shot. I’d like to see Murphy at 1st. 190 hits, 38 doubles, 13 hr’s. What’s not to like hitting wise? Drew was 6-54, with 17 k’s in this past post season. Does anyone really think Murphy would do anything like that?
Also … there is a rumor of Headley to the Sox, presumably for either Santiago or Quintana.
I could see Murphy and another player bringing back Santiago. Perhaps Flores, or a lower level pitcher like Gorski.
After all, when you take out Headley’s 2012 season it looks an awful lot like a more expensive Daniel Murphy.
I suppose that would work… don’t know enough about Santiago.
When I did my look, i found at least 7 teams for Murphy. Murphy can also be used at 3rd by teams short there. Murphy could be used for the Rays, if packaged for Escobar and they can let Zuberist play SS. I can see him being involved with Davis in a 3 team trade with the Rays and Mariners.
He can go to Toronto, not for Reyes, but for Ryan Goins (who played SS primarily in the minors) and a decent reliever like Neil Wagner.
Houston can easily move Carter to DH and play Murphy at a corner and they need a high AVG guy. I would take Villar and some pitching prospect from them.
I wonder if the Yankees would consider dealing Nunez in a deal for Murphy?
Arizona can also find a place for Murphy. Prado can play multiple positions. I would not be surprised if they moved Hill (to someone else) either considering his extremely high salary, age and coming off injury. This would save them major bucks. This can also be a 3 teamer if someone else can offer pitching and want Hill’s services.
Zobrist is not a good SS
Nunez is not someone I’d want on my team as a starter
I don’t want Goins either
Murphy is one of the few productive offensive players and reasonably priced. Why the zeal to trade him? BC he does not walk? Gimme a break. Can also move him to 1B if the Mets are giving up on Ike and play EY at second. I have a bad vibe on this one. They are going to move Murph for not much back is my sense.
I think, “The Plan” was to move Murphy if they could get something good and have Eric Young Jr and Wilmer Flores fight it out for the role.
I don’t think the Mets want Murphy on first unless they have more productive bats elsewhere.
They do want him in the lineup though.
Not sure I agree with this. They want him in the lineup, but not at first? You think they want him at second? Seems like they want to move him in a bad way. Not sure I get it, and his numbers at first are far superior than what I’d expect out of Ike/Duda. If people are looking at Ike and 32 hr’s, I say forget it. Could be wrong, but I’d forget about those.
All kinds of rumors are out there about a three way deal involving the Rays and Mets with Price as the prize for the third team.
In that scenario, I could see Murphy and Davis ending up on Tampa, with other players.
Zobrist would stay in the OF in that case.
Who would the Mets get in that situation? Depends on the team.
If the Rangers are interested, Andrus. The Mariners, Franklin. The Dbacks Owings.
That would be the primary player with a pitcher, reliever or other prospects.
The Mets would also relinquish other, lower level prospects.
Bottom line is that it makes too much sense for all the teams involved for it not to potentially occur.
It’s going to be an interesting winter meetings, between the Davis and Murphy rumors.
Trading for Price is fine if we keep Harvey, Wheeler and Syndrgaard but trading any of those three would make me say no.
Zobrist could totally move into the OF. He’s not a SS but OF is fine.
Andrus (based only on his baseball talents) is the best fit for the Mets right now.
Would people trade Noah Syndergaard for Starlin Castro?
negative.
See… I think it might be a steal if Castro goes back to his pre-2013 production. He’s young and affordable and locked up for a long time.
I am very, very bullish on Thor; I think of him capable of being Wainwright, of being Sale, of being Hamels.
On Castro’s best days, he won’t be as valuable as JJ Hardy was last year. He *might* not ever be as valuable as Yunel Escobar was last year, and that would be an improvement to MORE than 2012 Castro.
As you know, I like Castro. Not for Thor.
Editor’s note – post deleted for violating comment policy
The White Sox want a lefty hitting 3B. What if we send Murphy there for Hector Santiago, then package Santiago, Montero, Flores and Duda to the Rays for Price? If we go into 2015 with a rotation of Harvey-Price-Wheeler-Neise-Syndergaard, we’d be in pretty good shape regardless of our offense.
I don’t want to lose both Murphy and Flores because offense is half the game, but I’ve seen worse trade concepts.
Santiago alone would be sorta nice to keep
There are two offensive weaknesses in the current Met lineup, SS and CF. Trading Murphy will add a third weakness if they start E Young at 2B because there is a drop off of 86 OPS points between the two players. The only way a Murphy trade works is if the Mets FO believes Flores can at least put up an NL average .714 OPS in his rookie year. I think Flores can do that.
I think the Mets best trade partner is the Indians with Cabrera but it will also take more than Murphy to pull it off. Oakland could work if the Mets add Tejada and a low pitching prospect.If Murphy is not involved in a SS trade then I like a Gardner – Murphy (sorry Chris F) because it would give the Mets a legit lead off hitter.
Imagine if you will:
1. Elvis Andrus, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Curtis Granderson, LF
5. Lucas Duda/Josh Satin, 1B
6. Chris Young, RF
7. Travis d’Arnaud, C
8. Juan Lagares/Matt Den Dekker, CF
I don’t think it’s a bad thing the Mets holding on Murphy unless they get blown away by a deal for him — which is doubtful.
Keeping Murphy would be lovely
See… even Matt Cerrone agrees with me
http://metsblog.com/metsblog/murphys-value-in-a-one-for-one-deal/
Getting a mid-rotation starter would have been great, but apparently the fools asked for Dylan Bundy for Daniel Murphy.
Too funny. Sandy Alderson, comedian.
Karma perhaps?
According the Matt Cerrone’s “insiders” (who have given him crap info before) “In return for Hardy, the Orioles want a top, young pitcher, such as Cardinals RHP Shelby Miller, which has scared several teams away — including the Cardinals — during November”
Just don’t think they should trade Murph. EYoung is 100 pts OPS below what you would expect from a long term Every Day solution to 2nd base, and he’s about 200 pts short as a corner OF player. I love his ganme- but not as an everyday starter