Terry Collins praised second baseman Daniel Murphy for staying in the lineup down the stretch while battling nagging issues, according to ESPN. Last night’s win over the Marlins was Murphy’s 145th game of the season, and he could play in 161 of the team’s 162 games this year.
“Make no mistake, Dan’s beat up,” Collins said. “He plays so hard, he’s always beat up. He slides hard, he dives for balls. That takes its toll on the season. He comes to the ballpark, he wants in the lineup. He never asks for a day off. That sends a huge message to all those young players. He’s been our man of steel for sure.”
Collins also called Murphy the “backbone of the team” ever since David Wright has been on the disabled list. Murphy is hitting .313 in his last 28 games entering Friday’s contest, and is batting .281 with 10 homers and a career-best 68 RBIs on the season. He also has a career-high 18 stolen bases.
“He’s the one guy that teams know is a professional hitter,” said Collins. “To everybody in every club he’s the dangerous guy in our lineup. And we needed that. We need to be able to lean on that type of guy.”
Murphy was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time last winter. He requested $3.4 million and was offered $2.55 million by the Mets. They settled on $2.925 for the 2013 season. He now enters his second round of arbitration with a good chance to earn $4 million.
Last month, MetsBlog reported that Murphy may not be worth his price tag:
Murphy is eligible for arbitration each of the next two seasons, and I expect he’ll earn around $4 million in 2014. It’s plausible to think Alderson views Murphy as not worth his price tag, at that point.
Over his five year career, the 28-year-old has batted .289/.332/.441 and has averaged 39 doubles, ten home runs, 73 runs and 69 RBIs per season, putting him in the top ten of second basemen during that span with a 107 OPS+.
I strongly disagree with MetsBlog and view Murphy as one of the most valued players on the Mets and by that I mean the relationship between his performance and what he gets paid. Even at $4 million he gives the Mets more than double that in value.
His value for this season is over $11 million dollars based on his 2.5 fWAR which is second only to David Wright. When you consider that he’s playing at a somewhat premium position, the value is even more as compared to a corner outfielder or first baseman.
Collins is right when he says that Murphy is the only legitimate professional hitter in his lineup right now. Can you imagine this lineup without him?
As far as I’m concerned, Wright and Murphy are the players that Sandy Alderson needs to build around this offseason. Everyone else in that lineup is just a mystery at this point and not a given.
