A New York Mets official squashed any speculation that the Mets would trade infielder Daniel Murphy according to ESPNNewYork.com.
“Some players are more valuable to us than other clubs,” the team official said.
Rubin says this translates to Murphy being more valuable to the team than what the Mets could command in a trade. I agree with him.
As you can see in the following chart, Murphy has been very productive at the plate and with the Mets having little money and needing to replace the losses of Beltran and Reyes from the lineup, keeping Murphy isn’t such a bad idea.
Manager Terry Collins said yesterday that Murphy will play second base for the majority of the season with Justin Turner getting some time. He also added that Murphy likely will find himself batting leadoff on some occasions.
In other Mets news, Rubin also reports that the Mets have not ruled out signing a high-end closer to a one-year deal, but feels the Mets are more likely to sign a free agent like Frank Francisco or Jon Rauch, both formerly with the Blue Jays.
Rauch went 5-4 with a 4.85 ERA in 53 games last season while Francisco went 1-4 with a 3.55 ERA with 17 saves in 54 games.
I mentioned the following on Twitter earlier today:
It really doesn’t make any sense… A high end closer when you only have $10-15 million to spend on a team that could possible be looking at a 90+ loss season? Why?
