Oh god. Not another article on Daniel Murphy. Too bad. It’s my turn.
Mets fans are obsessed with Daniel Murphy.
Every Mets fan has an opinion on Daniel Murphy. In an ideal world, many fans would like to see Daniel complete his home grown development and become a star in New York. Unfortunately, patience is not a virtue of most Mets fans. Those fans feel that after the disastrous 2009 season, something must be done quickly to turn this team around. The quickest ways to do that are by spending money on free agents or trading top prospects for established highly paid stars.
I am one of those who say that we should keep Murphy and give him a fair shot at being our everyday 1st baseman in 2010. I say that because I think that Daniel will improve significantly. He will within a few years be a burgeoning star in this league, whether for the Mets or some other team.
Daniel had an admirable rookie season in 2009. When Reyes, Delgado and Beltran went down with injuries, Murphy was elevated to a much larger role than had been anticipated. He was just a rookie at age 24, suddenly batting third or cleanup, with all eyes on him to be one of the main offensive producers of the team. Murphy’s fielding woes made it even more difficult for him to succeed offensively.
It was an extremely trying year for Daniel. I’m sure he would be the first one to admit that he was embarrassed by his performance in left field. Then he moved to 1st base, a position which he had never played before. Considering his total inexperience, he played more than competently as our 1st baseman. Murphy will work relentlessly to become a better 1st baseman and I have no doubts of his ability to improve significantly.
Daniel’s fielding problems had to have adversely affected his batting. His head must have been spinning during every at bat. Despite these issues, he hit a respectable .266 with 38 doubles, 4 triples, 12 home runs, scored 60 runs and had 63 RBI. My money is on Murphy to easily improve on each of these stats next year.
A .300 batting average, .360 OBP, 40 doubles, 18 home runs, 80 RBI. I think he can do this in 2010 and even better in 2011. If not with the Mets, he will do it for some other team. How frustrating for Mets fans would that be?
Let’s compare Murphy to two Yankee greats who early in their careers struggled mightily: Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez.
Bernie Williams had a below average start to his career. As a rookie in 1991, in 85 games he batted .238 with 3 homers and 34 RBI. In 1992 in 62 games he hit .280 with 5 homers and 26 RBI. The reason he only played half seasons or less is because he was sent down to the minors each year. In 1993 and 1994 his first two full seasons, he hit under .300 with only 12 homers each year and 68 and 57 RBI respectively. Bernie didn’t have a real impact until 1995 when he was already 27 years old.
Tino Martinez had mediocre numbers early in his career too. In his first full season, 1992, he hit .257 with 16 HR and 66 RBI. In ’93 he hit .265 with 17 HR and 60 RBI. It wasn’t until 1995, his 4th year in the majors that he hit 30 HR and drove in over 100 runs.
It’s easy to discount this comparison between Murphy to Williams and Martinez. It’s simple to say that Murphy will never be that good. Of course, nothing is guaranteed, and I’m not arguing that he will be that good. He was not a top prospect. Expectations are not high for him. It’s just my opinion that Murphy has the physical ability and mental makeup to get better and better each year. And that’s what makes great players.
“Murphy’s Law” – Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. As it pertains to the Mets – Any promising prospect will succeed only after he is traded away from the Mets.
Let’s begin a new decade with a new law, (Daniel) Murphy’s Law, where the Mets and their fans show patience so their young players can develop and excel as Mets. For many years to come.
He has talent. He has heart, he will surprise, keep him, Use him it will pay off!
Adrian Gonzalez has talent, he has heart, he WON’T surprise cuz you already know what he does, get him, it will pay off.
oh…and 27 years old.
I don’t know how you know that Murphy doesn’t have anything upstairs. What makes you think that?
…by watching him play, that’s how.
also by his interviews..he’s a nice guy but ain’t much going on upstairs.
Look, don’t try and split hairs with me you’re gonna lose this one
Oh. And forget about Adrian Gonzalez. There is no way he will be a Met.
Not true Danny. Jon Heyman is reporting that a Mets exec told him the teams plans to contact the Padres about Adrian Gonzalez. Check hi twitter for details.
Big deal. The Mets can contact the Padres. That doesn’t mean there will be a trade. Fernando, Ike and Maine will not get you Adrian.
What do you think it would take to get him
Adrian Gonzalez – 27 years old. End of story.
Besides, Murphy is a nice guy but he has nothing upstairs, his fielding won’t improve much and while i admire him sticking it out last year he piled up his numbers in September against other teams September call ups.
buh-bye!
Yo Adrian.
If you were asking to decide between Murphy and Nick Johnson or Adam LaRoche that’s one thing, and I would say keep Murphy.
But if you’re asking me to choose between Murphy and Adrian Gonzalez gimme a break. That’s like asking me to consider Rico Brogna over Lou Gehrig.
So tell me – What do you think it would take for the Mets to land Gonzalez.
The Padres GM goes insane. Right now, the Mets have nothing to offer them (other than just wishful thinking).
I had to think about it and also look at their needs and what some Padre bloggers are wishing for this off season.
I would offer them (Jeff Francoeur or Angel Pagan), John Maine, Ike Davis, Bobby Parnell and $5 million dollars. I’d offer them Murphy, but I’m sure they’d laugh and insist on Ike Davis.
This is how I see the players you are willing to part with.
Ike Davis – one of the Mets best prospects who excelled at double AA but strikes out a ton. I think he has a 50/50 chance of being a 25 HR and 100 RBI guy.
John Maine – is a #4 starter who has been hurt 2 years in a row.
Bobby Parnell – a reliever who could turn out to be good.
Jeff Francoeur or Angel Pagan – neither are impact players.
Tell me – why would the Padres trade Gonzalez now, with a relatively low salary for 3 more years. They would give up 40 HR and 100 RBI for a bunch of question marks.
Who said anything about Maine, Fernando, & Ike?
Did anybody mention any names?
You just picking names out of a hat? Let the big boys do that, ok?
You come up wit these stupid responses and it takes an interesting debate to lower level. Use your head.
Funny we have the players to get Halladay but all of a sudden we don’t have the manpower to get Gonzalez?
I have no idea what the Padres want or what any team wants. Maybe they want to cut payroll, or the GM is insane. If the GM is insane than good.
The Heyman tweet is good enough for me.
Let it play out but this is ABSOLUTELY the way to go.
Let’s see what happens. Tomorrow is a new day.
Where is Murphy playing this winter? I hope he is working on his fielding as well as his hitting. If you want to be a ML starting 1B and you’re not a quality hitter you need to be a good defender.
He has a slow bat. He is slow as shit. I think he has physical ability to play first but his brain is another story. Minor leaguer, maybe a good PH on a team.
Come on Man. I want to win a chamionship, not cuddle these goofy psychos Pelfry, Perez and Murphy.
Murphy is nothing more than a high end utility player.
And please no platoon and no starting position for this guy.
The Mets should put the spin out on how Murphy has a great future (like they did with the great Lastings Milladge…one time we could have gotten manny Ramirez for him)…then include him in a trade for a legitimate first baseman before his value goes down like Milladge’s did. Otherwise he’s a good back up player….I think he’ll excel as a late inning pinch hitter.
Is Murphy a goofy psycho as you claim? What’s your evidence for what appears to be a goofy remark?
If you haven’t noticed you are goofy or a yankee fan.
For all the people down on Murphy, I hope when you guys start a new job, they yank you around to a few different positions and in the end surround you with a bunch of morons. Then I hope you get fired when you inevitably fail.
Liked your article. Loved the part of MURPHY’S LAW.Nothing wrong with patience,i wish more Mets fans had some.I would be willing to bet anyone,if the Mets traded Murphy and let Ike Davis play 1st,he wouldn’t have as much success as Murphy had.If the Mets had a healthy team except Delgado ofcourse,i’d also bet Murphy would have had better numbers.
Let’s see, Murphy with only slight improvement, will hit 20+ home runs next year. That improvement can come just from better protection in the lineup and a steady role.
The Mets offense, healthy, is pretty good, and if the Mets sign a big time left fielder, you’re talking about a guy that’s probably your 6th or 7th hitter, depending on Francoeur, hitting like 22/100 and hopefully can raise his average a bit to .285. Amazing? No. Good part of a championship team? could be.
“It was an extremely trying year for Daniel. I’m sure he would be the first one to admit that he was embarrassed by his performance in left field. Then he moved to 1st base, a position which he had never played before.”
He also had no significant minor league outfield experience. He had a TOTAL of 11 Putouts in the outfield in the minors.
Shame on Omar. Shame on Jerry. Both get me PO’d because of the shabby way they treated Murphy. Putting a player at a position he really never played before and expecting seasoned play is, in a word, stupid. Then putting him on first base. Omar and Jerry were acting either incompetently or dumb. I think they wanted the best from Murphy but they handled it terribly. Daniel is a keeper if the fans give him a chance.
Woah. hang on there. Not only did they throw him in a position he never really played before, they did it after having him play 2B in the winter, then platooned him in April, and had him taking balls at 1B while still being and OF. All these without any real plan as to what to do if Delgado came back on time. Then they moved him all around the lineup at whim, sat him for games at a time against lefties but brought him in cold against lefties anyway, and punished him for taking extra batting practice.
As a point of reference about defense in the outfield: Daniel Murphy was the consummate outfielder compared to Lastings Milledge. Lastings used to play against the outfield fence because he couldn’t go back on a ball. I remember that the hubbub about Lastings dealt mainly with his immaturity and social issues. But he was a lousy outfielder whose only saving grace was his bat speed. Too bad he couldn’t use his quick bat in the outfield.
I have a proposition for the online Mets fan community. This has been an enormously divisive issue, and I think that this article exemplifies how neither side has any particularly good arguments backing them up. Murphy supporters (myself included) don’t really have anything to point to in order to suggest that he will grow into a really solid hitter, other than a great September and 38 doubles. Murphy bashers have nothing on their side except a mediocre rookie season at age 24 with no lineup protection, and the fact that he wasn’t a highly-touted prospect (because all great MLB players were elite prospects). There is only sufficient support for the perspective of “lets wait and see,” as we all know that there are tons of players that don’t get called up and immediately tear it up.
Regardless, I think that this issue is a test of all of our collective baseball instincts. Given the passion with which some commenters insist that Murphy will never amount to anything, I propose that whichever side of this debate ultimately gets it wrong (Murphy becomes something valuable vs. always a bench-level player) loses the right to publicly evaluate Mets prospects ever again. Sounds fair, right?
No it doesn’t sound fair,
First of all I find it very condescending that you have decided for everybody that neither side has any good arguments to support their view?
And whoever loses the argument loses their right to evaluate any future Mets prospects? Are you nuts?
Evaluating talent is as old as baseball itself. Sometimes you are right about evaluating prospects and sometimes you’re wrong. Of course the best scouts are right more than they’re wrong.
I can’t speak for anyone else but my evaluation of Murphy is that he’s a good kid who doesn’t have a whole lot upstairs can develop into good backup player/pinch-hitter. His fielding at 1B will never get too much better and he’s better off in the AL where at best he can have a decent career as a DH/ .280 hitter. I also don’t see him as an everyday player all the time in this role either.
Nice try pal. Nice try at trying to be a voice of reason..except there was nothing reasonable about it. Go back to the minors.
You calling someone out about being condescending is pretty ironic…….
Bayonne Mets Fan
I’ve heard you say that you’re not a writer so you can’t write a blog.
You’ve said you’re not the GM so you can’t pick players for a trade for Gonzalez (“let the big boys do that”).
But you are a good evaluator of talent.
I’m sure you’ve had many one on ones with Daniel Murphy and that’s how you know he isn’t a smart guy. And I’m sure you’ve watched him practice at first base so you know he doesn’t have the ability, wherewithall, or relentless desire to make himself into a much better defender. And I’m sure you’ve evaluated him and decided that last year’s fielding woes and pressures had no affect on his batting numbers.
I usually don’t like to go back and forth this much with an individual but this clown is consistently misquoting me, getting his facts wrong, and now he’s picks apart and misinterprets sentences while using them out of context.
*Readers should take note of the above and take note of this guy’s credibility when reading his future blogs
I’m going to break down his last response and separate fact from fiction:
“I’ve heard you say that you’re not a writer so you can’t write a blog”
this is true
“You’ve said you’re not the GM so you can’t pick players for a trade for Gonzalez”
I didn’t say this, i said i have no idea what the Padres want or what any team wants. Read my post. Also the “let the big boys do that” comment was directed at YOU. You took that part out of it’s context as well.
“But you are a good evaluator of talent”
I didn’t say that either. That’s either your opinion (thank you if it is) or you’re being sarcastic.
The rest of your post is just plain sarcasm and being stupid – yeah i’ve really spoken to Daniel Murphy. I watch him on TV just like everybody else. I see the president on TV too and have opinions on him like everyone too.
Fact is i may disagree with people and add a little creative artistic content to my responses that irk some people.
But I don’t lie, I don’t make things up, and I understand everybody’s point the first time around. And I also don’t twist things around to make my own points.
Your credibility as a blogger is non-existent.
Chill out man, we’re all on the same side.
If this site got rid of all the bloggers you have a problem with, would any of them be left?
DANNY, DANNY, DANNY, I AGREE THAT IN A FEW YEARS MURPHY MAY DEVELOP INTO SOMEONE USEFUL; BUT THAT’S JUST IT, THE WILPONS ARE CERTAINLY NOT VERY,VERY RICH BY NY BASEBALL OWNER STANDARDS AND AS SUCH DO NOT HAVE “A FEW YEARS TO WASTE AWAITING POSTSEASON EARNINGS. YOUR STATEMENT Re.”Despite these issues, he hit a respectable .266 with 38 doubles, 4 triples, 12 home runs, scored 60 runs and had 63 RBI.” IS CERTAINLY PROBLEMATIC INASMUCH AS THOSE NUMBERS BY MY CALCULATIONS FALL WAY SHORT OF “RESPECTABILITY” FOR A 1B. THINK FIELDER,HOWARD, TEXEIRIERA, PUJOLS, GONZALEZ AS COMPARATIVE 1B PRODUCTION NUMBERS. INCR THOSE HR# TO 30-40, RBI TO 85+ AND PERHAPS YOU;LL REACH THE RESPECTABILITY LEVEL. MURPHY IS CERTAINLY THE “OLD YELLOW” STORY ; BUT REMEMBER THE DOG HAD TO DIE TO MAKE IT POIGNANT. HISTORICALLY THE MET FRANCHISE HAS NOT BEEN FORMATTED TO PRODUCE TOP POSITIONAL TALENTS. THE FACT WE’VE 3 ALREADY ON THE ROSTER SHOULD INDICATE THERE ISN’T MUCH MORE TO ANTICIPATE(THE 3 ARE WRIGHT,REYES,PAGAN) WITH DAVIS IN THE WINGS FOR THE POSITION PRESENTLY OCCUPIED BY MURPHY, I FULLY ANTICIPATE MURPH’S FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OCCURING ELSEWHERE. BTW, MURPH HAS NO ONE TO BLAME; BUT THE GUY IN THE MIRROR. HE CHOSE TO FOCUS SOLELY ON DEVELOPING WHAT HE LOVED MOST(HITTING) RATHER THAN ON WHAT HE STRUGGLED AT(FIELDINGF). “MT BEST POSITION IS BATTING THIRD” TELLS ALL U NEED TO KNOW. THAT POSITION TYPICALLY IS DESCRIBED AS A ‘DH’, TOO BAD HE STUPIDLY SIGNED WITH A NL CLUB.