Time and time again, Daniel Murphy’s name seems to bring a feeling of frustration amongst Mets fans, as there have been plenty of moments on the basepaths and on the field that make you wonder what you just witnessed. Murphy has been the second baseman for the Mets over the past four seasons, and the Mets have Dilson Herrera coming up through the minors, and he should be ready to take over second base next season. With Herrera rising through the minors, the Mets are not willing to offer Murphy a long-term contract, and this makes trading him an intriguing option. However, the smartest move may be keeping Daniel Murphy throughout this season, and then letting him go once the offseason begins.
Yesterday, it was announced that David Wright would be missing more time with spinal stenosis. This injury is serious, as it forced Lenny Dykstra to retire at age 35. Assistant General Manager John Ricco has said the Mets will shut down Wright for a week and continue doing exercises. The recent setback does not bode well for the Mets organization, and this provides the Mets with a chance to change their defensive alignment in their infield.
Now that third base is going to be open for quite some time, the Mets can stick with starting Eric Campbell, or switching to Murphy, or Ruben Tejada. Campbell has struggled this season hitting .197 and posting a .922 fielding percentage at third base in 23 games this season. Murphy has not been much better at fielding, as he has a .960 percentage in 12 games. However Murphy’s bat is what separates him from the other two players. Tejada is hitting .195, and he has not hit over .240 the past two seasons. Murphy provides a little pop to the lineup, as he has three homers this season, and has shown the ability to hit for a decent average the past couple of years. After an awful April, where he hit .198, Murphy has raised his average by hitting .325 this month. It would be unreasonable to expect an average this high for every month, but there is life in Murphy’s bat this season.
If the Mets keep Murphy and put him at third, then the team could promote Matt Reynolds and put him at shortstop. Reynolds has decent numbers in the minors, hitting .282 with an OBP of .348 in 41 games. His fielding at short has been decent, as he has a .962 fielding percentage in 33 games at short, but this is better when comparing it to Wilmer Flores’ .942 percentage. If Reynolds played short, then the Mets could put Flores at second base, where he has had more success this season, and the lack of range would not hurt the pitching staff too much.
Since the offense has been concerning, it makes sense for the Mets to call up Reynolds in order to generate more runs than usual, however Tejada can also start at short to provide a better defensive option.
The Mets seem eager to move on from Murphy, but keeping him and putting him at third base until the organization knows what to do with David Wright is the smartest decision that the Mets could make. There are different middle infield alignments the team could choose from in order to maximize results, as they have Flores, Herrera (when he returns from the DL), Reynolds and Tejada to choose from. Hopefully our captain makes a speedy recovery, but until then, Murphy at third makes sense.
Mets strategy number 1: rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic for a “new look”.
Sorry James, that will not get the job done.
I agree that it won’t get the job done, but I do think that it will benefit the team until they make a trade. There are pieces coming up through the minors, but they won’t help the team this year, therefore the team needs to get a bat. The big question remains who will Alderson go for, and it will be interesting to see what happens going forward.
I’m all for putting Murph at third as it increases hia trade value. Neither Tejada nor Campbell should be playing every day.
Good point Matt. I think we need to see how David Wright’s recovery goes, and then the Mets can decide whether or not to trade Murphy. If they do trade him, I hope they get a third baseman or a shortstop that will help the offense score runs.