Mets fans can be baffling. One of the more prominent practices of the Flushing faithful lately has been tossing around various trade proposals to improve the team. Many of these hypothetical rants and narratives can be found on Twitter as well as numerous local publications and blogs. Daniel Murphy, the NL hits leader, is currently being shopped by the aforementioned masses for reasons that seem questionable and premature.
The Mets are an offensive challenged team at the present, a fair assessment by anyone who watches on a daily basis. Currently, the team ranks ninth in runs, 13th in batting average, and 14th in SLG. So to look outside the organization for an infusion of offensive talent could be a productive avenue down the road. However, trading one of your few reliable hitters, Murphy, would only set the team back, in the present and future.
If a team is going to inquire about Murphy for a trade, the most likely reason would be to fill a hole in their team for a potential playoff run. The return for the majority of these trades is top to middle tier prospects. GM Sandy Alderson has done well in the past few years, flipping Mets players into elite minor league prospects, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d’Arnaud, etc. This season, if the Mets continue to sustain their mediocre to below average record, adding more potential talent to their minor league depths would not be the best course of action necessarily. The focus needs to be on the near future, especially with the organizational depth being the deepest it’s been in years.
Murphy is having another solid year that may put him on the All-Star team. He will be up for arbitration at the end of the year and is likely to receive a big raise. His management team will also be looking for an extension from the Mets, which is another reason for the hypothetical trade proposals. Some do not think the Mets will oblige Murphy while others do not think he is worth the extension. Eligibility for free agency ensues after next season, so this offseason should dictate the Mets priorities as they apply to their second baseman.
Defensive liabilities aside, Murphy is vital to the construction of this team. He hits for average, extra-base power, and makes solid contact consistently. Even many of the advanced stats supporters have subsided in their criticism of Murphy as a result of his high .349 OBP. His plate discipline, hitting savvy, and competitive intangibles should make him a mainstay on this team. What possible return in a deadline trade could compare to what Murphy gives this team on a daily basis?
The outlook for the future of this lineup relies heavily on Juan Lagares and Travis d’Arnaud producing offensively. If they do, along with Murphy, David Wright, Curtis Granderson, and an emerging Lucas Duda, the Mets may make a little run if their pitching holds up their end of the bargain. If they don’t, perhaps Bartolo Colon or Chris Young gets moved for some future pieces, but Murphy should be off the table.
At the end of the year, a Murphy contract extension would probably be in the $10 to $12 million per year range for three to four years, making him the third highest paid Mets player; a fair and reasonable price for a hitter of Murphy’s caliber. Sure, some will clamor supporting Dilson Herrera or Wilmer Flores as organizational options at second base, but can they guarantee they’ll succeed at the major league level with any consistency? And more importantly, can this team afford to even gamble on that?
Stop the insanity. The grass isn’t always greener; Mets fans should know this after some of the trades and free-agent signings of years past. If Murphy is traded, the amateur GMs who wanted to send him packing will be singing a different tune: Don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.
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I agree with pretty much everything you said here.
And i’d like to note that letting a player reach Free Agency, and taking the draft pick is not the worst thing in the world. The main attraction is that you get a lot more flexibility as there are many more options to choose from.
That Plawecki kid who may be our catcher of the future? Yea, he was the compensation for Reyes.
You don’t trade the best all around hitter on your team period!!
So this is interesting and for the most part as a Met fan I agree.
However, from the business side, I pretty much disagree. It’s my feeling pretty much anyone without a no-trade clause should be available to be traded for. The goal is to make the best team available, and if Murphy brings in the right pieces then he should be traded. In reality, as much as we all love Murph, he’s a decent piece, But it’s not like he is an elite 2B.
I hope he stays and they work out a deal, but be prepared for a 3/30 offer instead of the more reasonable 4/45 that he’s worth…and then he walks. The sandwich pick is an interesting route. And while I love how Plawecki is advancing, I’m sure we could have done very well with a real trade.
Jose was coming off an injury and had a bad July leading up to the deadline. I find it doubtful that if we traded him we would have something better than what we have with Plawecki right now.
Eric Aybar and some minor league prospect(s) was rumored from the Angels. (if I remember correctly)
I am high on Plawecki but Aybar would have solidified the infield at a reasonable 8.5M per year extension that he signed in 2012.
The problem was that Alsderson didn’t read the market correctly. Someone was going to give Jose a 100M contract (just like someone gave Werth his contract). If Sandy wasn’t ever going to pay that 100M contract then he should have traded for major league talent. It would be one solved piece now and maybe a little better team the past 2 1/2 years.
I don’t remember that scenario and that frankly doesn’t pass the smell test.
Aybar i think was going to be a free agent after the 2013 season, which mean at the 2011 trade deadline he had 2.5 years left. He was also hitting around .280/.320/.410 around the break while playing solid defense. He ended up posting around a 4 WAR that season.
Why on earth would they trade a solid SS with 2.5 years of control Plus prospects for half year of an often-injured Reyes?
The best point is what would the Mets hope to gain from this trade? Murph has defensive liabilities that most teams will hold against the Mets during trade negotiations. We’d be lucky to get back equal value, and that isn’t worth letting one of our team’s best hitters go.
There should be no sense of urgency to move Murphy. But as the same time as the trading deadline approaches and teams start to search for that missing piece that could help them win a world series SA would not be doing his job if a team offered the Mets a package deal that would help them in 2015 fill several starting positions.
It’s not about what you give up, It’s about what you get back. With that said unless a team comes up with an over the top offer, there is no way you trade Murphy.
True Murphy should be a mainstay. But unless terry collins is released mets going no where. When a player is hot he sits him down. Case in point Chris Young Tuesday and weds he hit home runs Thursday puts in Abreu. Statistically mets only win when young Jr plays. It should be a consistent lineup everday. Duda. Murphy Tehada wright darnoud granderson Lagares young jr. Case closed.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/06/examining-a-potential-daniel-murphy-extension.html is an intersesting article concerning his extension.
The Mets are lacking an impact bat that can bat in the middle of the order and can play left field. They have no one in their minor league system that will fill that order in 2015. There also are budget restraints that will dictate the price of a free agent if they choose that route or if they upgrade using the trade route.
Murphy is one of the few ballplayers that could have trade value on this club. He alone could not bring in that impact bat so a pitcher would have to be added. Murphy’s potential 9M arb salary savings would also go toward balancing the budget on the expected increase for the impact bat. Murphy is also playing a position that the Mets have some minor league depth at. If Murphy is the avenue to the impact bat, then I would be in favor of trading him.
I think the kid they just drafted, Conforno could fill that role by next year.
Murphy should be traded, if you can get a fool to take him at a premium.
Look, I love watching him play. He’s a great guy, fine enough hitter, but he can’t field worth a damn. He’s pretty much established what he is, at roughly 1.5-2.5 WAR.
If you give him a four year contract at $60MM, to a 2B that has to complete double plays, starting in his age 31 season, you are completely, positively nuts.
Eventually, the music is going to stop playing and someone is going to get stuck with Dan Murphy.
he is without doubt the worse fielder ive ever seen at 2nd in my 55 yrs. he dosent have any range he cant turn a dbl play @ last nites game on of all people snail ike davis,. what u dont c is him dropping throw on game winning hit yesterday today moving wrong way & dumb throw in 2nd inning. he has 0 baseball i.q. as per yesterday running with duda up in a tie game. he plays like a moron no matter how well he hits . mets r built on pitching yet he gives up more runs then hell never knock in & at the same x u have a statue Duda at 1st . thats why mets stink
Obviously it all depends on what the Mets can get back in a trade. It makes no sense to trade a very good player for middling prospects, however if a team offers a very good package for him, it would be foolish to not trade him.
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