Lest We Forget, He’s 24! (And Other Mets Thoughts)

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• gregga19 July 21, 2009 at 12:42 pm

  I thought I was the only one who hadn’t given up on Murphy. The kid plays hard, which is more than I can say about a lot of other pros. Maybe if Gary Cohen, Howie Rose and Wayne Hagin stopped finding fault with everything Murph does, things would go even better for him. I’ve never heard three home town announcers hammer a player the way these three hammer Murphy, its disgusting.
  Here’s another trade thought for you, how about we trade Mental Mike Pelfrey somewhere?
  • Des July 21, 2009 at 7:48 pm

    Good idea on Daniel Murphy. By the way, he made a great stop and throw to second to start a doubleplay against Washington.

    Bad idea on Mike Pelfrey. You complain about Wayne and Howie, how ’bout what you’re doing to Big Mike? He’s a keeper in my book.
    • Greg Pomes July 22, 2009 at 5:00 am

      I think the blame with Murphy goes to Omar. He put a lot of pressure stating that the Mets were not going to sign an everyday left fielder because the Mets had Murph. Manny, Abreu, Dunn were available but Omar went with a young kid who was never an outfielder and in truth had no business being out there. I still say Murph was rushed to the “show” he should have played in the minors to start 2009. Jerry didn’t help with making him the everday LF guy but he had no other option really.

      I don’t understand why Gary is so hard on him though, kind of perplexing consider how easy going last year on Castillo and he’s fairly easy on Ollie.
      • Satish Ram July 22, 2009 at 10:13 am

        SNY seems to have a sympathy spot for Castillo because he was brought in on Omar’s questionable contract offer, and Perez by the same standard.
• The Stache July 21, 2009 at 12:49 pm

  I just want to say that the no trade clause was the deal maker when we signed Beltran and why he ended up a Met instead of an Astro or Yankee.

  I’ve also been calling for Wright to move to first base. Why delay the inevitable?
  • Pete July 21, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    Last I checked David Wright has won two gold gloves at third.
    • Mike Waggs July 21, 2009 at 5:22 pm

      Last Time I checked… you were right.
• Sach C. July 21, 2009 at 1:37 pm

  Joakim Soria is untouchable, and the Royals have been clear on that.

  I agree about Castillo, we may have a real chance to give his contract to another team if he is productive, but won’t get anything in return. Ollie’s deal would be much harder for another team to take on.

  Marte is years away from being trade bait. Probably, he’ll get traded in the future, but that’s a while away.

  Holt is two years away, while we can conceivably call Niese up now. I’m very interested next year when Holt and possibly Mejia go to AAA.

  I’m not completely against no-trade clauses, even though I wouldn’t give them. Stache has a good point about beltran.

  Even if Wright makes defensive mistakes, he’s serviceable at third. Also, 1B should be for a pure power hitter who can’t play anywhere else.

  To answer two questions, we could ask Glaus to play 1B for a year or two, If he still has power. I wouldn’t go after Beltre though. But I have no idea about 1B in 2010.

  The Rays could be another candidate. Don’t know if they’d give us JP Howell and prspects.
• Todd July 21, 2009 at 2:07 pm

  I agree with you on Murphy and especially on the point about New York media and fans..they demand their teams win now instead of developing teams that can compete for dynasties(anyone noticed how many home grown players the Phillies have??). You will see that philosophy is going to come back and bite the Yankees in the ass unless they really expand their payroll over 300 million in about 5 years.

  As far as our 1B in 2010, what about Prince Fielder? The Brewers have their 3rd baseman of the future in Casey McGehee and recently demoted top prospect Matt Gamel, a left-handed pure power hitter who had been terrible at 3rd base and looks like will be moved to first. It has been speculated that the Brewers would look to trade him in the future because they do not think they can resign him(even though he isnt a free agent for another 4 or 5 years), plus I doubt they’d even want to pay the hefty arbitration…chances are they will look for lots of pitching depth in potential trade.

  I’m not saying the Mets should do this, or even that the Brewers will trade Fielder..just throwing the possibility of him being on the market as discussed by both Peter Gammons and Buster Olney, whom belive he will get traded in the next 2 years
  • Todd July 21, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    ok I’m sorry..I lied. Players are eligible for free agency after 6 seasons in the Majors. A season is a minimum of 172 day, and Prince Fielder currently is under control for 3 more years as opposed to the 4 or 5 I previous stated. He would be a free agent in 2012.
• Lifelongmetsfan@msn.com July 21, 2009 at 3:20 pm

  Great article it got me thinking. Fielder is going to ask for Texierra money or there abouts. If the Mets won’t make any big contract signings in the next 5 yrs as reported in other posts why trade for a player when your not going to sign him long term?
  It’s looking more and more like the Mets are going to opt for a period of re-building from within rather than signings to fill holes.

  2012 Lineup
  C ?
  1b Nick Evans .272 23 hr 85 rbi
  2b Reese Havens .250 10 home runs 55 rbis 65 runs scored
  SS Jose Reyes .295 12 hr 72 rbi’s 50 sb 110 runs scored
  3b David Wright .304 18 hr. 110 rbis 120 runs scored
  LF Ike Davis .255 24 home runs 90 rbi’s
  CF Carlos Beltran .278 29 home runs 115 rbi’s 110 runs scored
  RF Jeff Francouer .265 22 homeruns 90 rbi’s

  Bench: Wilmer Flores(will play 1st base eventually)
  Daniel Murphy (nothing more than a sub 1b, 3b, OF)

  That’s not very bad at all. If we assume:
  Santana
  Perez
  Niese
  Maine
  Hoyt
  Key bullpen: Parnell, Kutz, Rodriquez

  We trade for a grade A catching prospect within the nest two years I think we’ll be ok.
• Lifelongmetsfan@msn.com July 21, 2009 at 3:50 pm

  opps Holt.
  • Todd July 21, 2009 at 4:28 pm

    what do you think about Thole at catcher possibly in 2012? he’s only 22 or 23 and raking in AA. I hear he was converted into a catcher so the big thing with him is working on his defense. Also I’m not sure Havens is going to make it as a 2nd baseman unless he really swings it because his defense is below average there..I think Davis will hit for more average later in his career so I’m fine with that..Wilmer will be 1B or 3B eventually with Wright playing the other corner..don’t like Perez as #2 starter at all but other than that I like that the team is built from within, lots of home-growners. However, if this is the team we put out on the field in 2012, expect a ton of growing pains in the next 2-3 years
• sarge July 21, 2009 at 6:18 pm

  I agree on Murph, nuff said. Glaus cannot throw so Cards are having him learn to play left field. Just what we need an infielder that cannot make the great throws that Murphy can.
• Chris in Japan July 22, 2009 at 12:58 am

  I completely agree with you on Murphy. He has shown a very good glove at first, and his bat will get better. I don’t know if we should necessarily name him our starting 1B for next year, but I think he deserves more time to show he belongs there.

  I’m reminded of something one blogger said about why the Dodgers are such a good team–that though they may have few “superstars” they’ve got a solid player at every position on the diamond. I view Murphy as that type of player in the very near future.
  • Satish Ram July 22, 2009 at 10:10 am

    Exactly that, Murphy may not grow into a star, but he will be solid on defense and on offense because of his baseball wherewithal.