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Adam Rubin of the Daily News recently conducted a quick Q&A with the Mets Daniel Murphy, who is playing second base for the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League.
Among the topics Rubin discusses with Murphy include, staying humble, a heavy offseason workload, and if Murphy would be able to play second base today for the Mets, which Rubin quoted Murphy as saying:
“I would be ready, because that’s where I would be that day.”
…cerrone is right, daniel murphy means business…
Murphy is batting .500 (9-for-18) with 1 2B, 1 HR and 6 RBI, while not committing an error in six games played at second base.
Rubin also chatted with Mets pitching prospect Eddie Kunz, which you can read here.
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Awesome article. Don’t count out Murph for second base just yet!
I think its the right approach that Minaya is taking. He’s obviously confident in Murphy’s ability and is looking for a slot to put him in. Obviously 1b is an option. There are about three spots that are absolutely untouchable for him which are SS, 3b and CF, but Minaya is trying to give him time to pick up a spot where if they shored up, the Mets needs at positional players would porbably dramatically reduce. So i think this is the right approach to see what they have in this kid if he has any skill to play 2b.
He’s also our best 2nd hitter in our line up because of his apporach at every at bat. This kid has patience and can always get on base in a number of ways. So many times i saw him work 3-2 counts after being down 0-2. I dont think any situation is too big for this kid because he’s the same in every at bat.
Hopefully this is the start of something big!
Quick question: Why is it that when the Red Sox are down 7-0 to the Rays, you feel like the game isn’t over. But when the mighty Nats take a 2-0 lead on us in the 3rd inning, it’s the end of the world? Thoughts?
because the Red Sox are really, really good. And we’re, well, not.
That said, I feel cursed. I’m rooting hard for the Rays, and of course their bullpen has a historic postseason collapse. The only time in my life I ever rooted for the Yankees was 2001 (the whole 9/11 I love NY thing), and of course Mariano blows his only postseason save in Game 7. I can’t escape bad bullpens! It’s driving me crazy…
Living through two years of a team with a rotten bullpen with one team is bad enough. So dude, don’t torture yourself by enduring it with another. Know how I felt last night while watching the game? Relieved—pardon the pun. Why? because I could watch a club’s bullpen completely melt down and not feel any emotion or pain.
I just really like this Rays team. They’re young, exciting, and fun to watch. Plus, early in the season I put down $25 bucks that they’d win the World Series….I don’t remember what the odds were at the time, but I stand to make a decent amount of money if they win it.
And the only way to describe last nights loss is that it was Met-esque.
You rooted for the Yanks in 2001? I was a Curt Schilling fan that week.
I was going for the Yanks too. I had a good sum of $ on the Yanks to win that year as well. It was the first time I lost a good sum of $ and wasn’t sick to my stomach.
I loved watching the yanks get beat that year. that was a great series.
The Rays are much more talented than the Red Sox but last night is the perfect example of why it is so important to “know how to win” and the Mets do not have that. The Cubs are so deep in it that it consumes them. The Red Sox were once that way until back-to-back late inning comebacks in 2004 led to a comeback from 3-0 to the Yanks, then a sweep in the Series and ever since they have been able to win when they need to. It’s a confidence thing. The Yankees have gotten by on it for years and they call it mystique, but it’s the belief in that mystique that creates a confidence you need to win. The Mets don’t have it, and now are fighting a downhill battle the other way, in a mini-Cubs fashion, they are not sure they can win. I’m not sure what can be done to change it other than a fluke play or what, but changng the culture can’t hurt.
Folks, everyone has gone overboard on Daniel Murphy. He had an impressive stint with the Mets, yes, but come on. He’s not yet the second coming of David Wright. Anyone else out there old enough to remember guys like Gregg Jefferies, Steve Henderson and Mike Vail? Sure all three guys tore it up for parts of their first seasons, but none lived up to the hype. People forget Murphy’s average ended up at .314, a prodigious drop after the league’s pitchers figured out how to pitch to him. I know I’ll be slaughtered for saying this, because it’s an unpopular take, but I’d offer him right now—while his value is sky-high—along with Aaron Heilman and Joe Smith to Kansas City for closer Joakim Soria and lefty setup man Luis Nunez. Soria is younger and far, far cheaper than K-Rod, had an ERA of 1.60 and was 42-for-45 in save opps.
KC could convert Heilman—who’ll never be effective pitching in NY—into a starter, use Smith as their new closer and make Murphy what he’d be best at being, a DH.
In Soria, we’d have an elite closer for years at a bargain basement price and a dependable setup man in Nunez, freeing us to deal away the deadwood in the bullpen.
The Royals have no reason to trade Soria.
Soria is going nowhwere… why on earth would they trade him? Let alone for that pile you offered?
There is some sanity to your statement, but then, we’re not scouts. The Brewers were confident giving their young guy a huge contract with less than a full season of playing time.
I know he did slow down a little towards the end, but it was like Nick Evans who had 3 doubles and then not a hit, or Argenis, who managed to slap a couple of singles consistently for about a week. Murphy had pinch hit home runs. He had lead off triples in the bottom of the 9th of a tie game. Even when it was getting out more, he was still battling, still learning. While if you could get a super package for him, you probably have to consider it, two relievers are not it. Relievers are just so hit or miss from year to year.
Scouts pretty much say the same thing about Murphy. And the Brewers young guys were highly regarded to begin with.
I agree with your statement about relievers being hit or miss, but Soria is the real deal.
Put him on a better team and with in a year he would be recognized as a top closer.
I would take him over K-Rod any day..
He did not just do it for one year. In 2007 he became the KC closer for the last few months did very good and in 2008 he was even better.
But again KC has no reason what so ever to trade him. But I would trade Murphy for him in a second if the opportunity came up.
I agree with you until you get to the trade. If Royals trade Soria I’d expect they can get a better package than that.
I would do that deal in a heartbeat, but the bounty would be very high for a young lights out closer like Soria. Murph would certainly be an important piece, but KC has no need for Heilman, who is arbitration eligible. You’d need a few other pieves in my opinion.
If they would do it, sure, but they won’t.
Ok I am confused. 1st you say that Murphy is basically overrated and then you make him the center piece in a trade for a great closer and setup man?
You can’t have it both ways. Surely if you don’t think he has proven anything yet then neither would KC?
If they trade Soria it will be for MUCH more than that.
Not to mention that Murphy did NOT really tail off. He still had an OBP of .371 during September. He still had and OPS of over .800. He had one bad night and that is what brought his average down. He would have had to have had 3 more hits in September to have a higher BA in September than August. That’s one bad night.
I am not ready to say he is the next David Wright, but IF he can play 2nd then it’s a no brainer to keep him unless we are really blown away.
Danny: The Royals need help at DH, first and second, where Murphy would fit. If they trade their closer, they’d need a replacement, and Smith is young and cheap. Every team needs starting pitching and in Heilman, KC could get the proverbial huy who might thrive with a change of scenery. Plus, the Royals finished last for two years in a row with Soria. How much worse could they do without him?
Royals have Billy Butler pretty much locked into DH since he can’t play anywhere else…
They just drafted Eric Hosmer, the top 1b talent in the 2008 draft… and they have Moustakas up the middle… to go along with Alives
They’re not going to trade their best player, for a pile of medicore parts.. when they have grade A talent on the way for those some places.
Plus if KC traded Soria, like people said they can get a much better package of players.
Exactly.
Ceetar: Could we do any worse than the Mets’ scouts?
I saw a young man named Kazmir pitching last night for Tampa Bay who looked very impressive, who was once a Mets prospect. And another pitcher named Wheeler, who up until last night had pitched well all year out of the bullpen, who was once a Met. And that guy Lindstrom, pitching for Florida out of its pen—he looks hard to hit, too and he was once a Met.
And yeah, ex-Mets Chad Bradford and Darren Oliver, they sure didn’t have it any more—yet, they were pitching in this year’s post-season, last time I checked. Oh, but of course, letting them go was all remedied by signing a quality arm like Scott Schoeneweis. Yeah, those moves all worked out, didn’t they?
Oh, and let’s not forget those scouts who urged Omar Minaya to give away Heath Bell and get no one of value in return.
Yeah, I trust Mets scouts right now as much as I do AIG executives.
Let’s be fair.. mets scouts didn’t trade Kazmir.. that was team Wilpon :-)
I was trying to decide what was worse.. watching the Phils winning the NL.. or watching Kazmir pitch the Rays to the world series…
Watching the Phils winning is worse.
much, much worse
if it wasn’t for the scouts, Kazmir wouldn’t have been a Met. none of those guys were. Scouts don’t usually make the evaluations of players on our team. In fact, you could say that other scouts agree with ours, since they were willing to take the same players.
How about watching what Kazmir could have done to the Phillies for the next 10-15 years (in albeit a small sample size) in a possible World Series matchup?
So wait. We finally get a hard-nosed player with a good bat that isn’t selfish and the first thing some people think is “he’s a fluke. pitchers will figure him out. trade him now”? I thought people wanted players who played with heart.
Hey I want and hope Murphy is the real deal because I love his attitude and the way he goes about playing the game.
But at the same time he only has had 130 at bats in the majors.
What I would love to see happen is Delgado be the Mets 1st baseman next season, get a big bat for LF (im not opposed to signing Manny just not to a 5 year deal) via free agency or trade, and Murphy be at 2nd base. I really think that is a good spot for him just for the fact that he is not a big power hitter. I can see that part of his game coming but not yet.
I know the Mets have talked (Omar, Jerry Manual) about getting Murphy in the lineup everyday next season. I don’t want him being the everyday 1st baseman because I don’t see the production from him as far as power and RBI numbers and I don’t want to see him starting in LF for the same reason unless we get rid of church and get a big bat in RF.
I just really think the Mets have plans for this guy at 2nd base but there not going to really say anything about it because a) he might fall on his face and be a horrible defender at 2nd base and b) they still have Castillo as of now. There not going to say we want Murphy as are 2nd baseman next year because it lowers Castillo’s value and if the Mets can not rid themselves of Castillo he will be a big problem in the club house if he knows he is not wanted and is not playing.
I believe if Murphy shows in the fall league and spring training that he can play a solid 2nd base, he will be out everyday 2nd baseman next year.
To me, it just depends on whether or not Murph can stick it at 2b. If he can play it, then great. I will be worried about the lack of range on the right side between he and Delgado, but ultimately, there are bigger fish to fry, in the the bullpen and LF. If 2b can be solved internally, go for it
Yea i agree HitTheSinker, even though it was a small sample size, we still saw that he has the tools to become a great player. It’s not as if he was swing for the fences golfing and ran into a few. As many people said, he was disipline and fundementaly sound wich really shows the real kind of player he is. And I really dont see why people won’t think he’ll have good range. He is fairly deceptivly fast. He’s an above average offensive second basemen and a natural infeilder. Lets starts a campaign for Murph at 2nd.
The Royals are not going to trade us Soria just because he would help us!!!
For those who know that he would be a great pickup but are unaware of his extremely team friendly contract: (thanks to Cot’s Baseball Contracts)
Joakim Soria – signed extension 5/17/08
1 year/$0.4265M (2008)
3 years/$8.75M (2009-11), plus 2012-14 club options
Now why would they trade him now unless completely bowled over with an offer? (F-Mart? Pelfrey?)
Considering the Royals GM recently said that he’s tired of being in rebuilding mode and is determined to build a contending team i highly doubt he’s going to trade a phenominal closer for other pieces.
So their GM is going to trade a closer who is locked up for 6 more seasons (Including Options) at a well below-market rate because his team is rebuilding?
That’s someone you build around, not ship off.
Soria is going nowheres, sorry. I would love to acquire him if he was available, but he’s simply not available.
Oh sorry, I misread you…my point still stands though.
Heh it’s all good. Personally I don’t blame the Royals. I’m sure their fans are sick of hearing about how much of a joke their team is and especially after the Rays this year there is no excuse not to construct a championship, or at least a competing, team.
I understand people’s cynicism here on not getting too high on murphy. however why cant we at least be excited about one of our prospects?
maybe he flops? maybe we have another young, controlled talent on our team to add to the core.
teams like the rays and red sox, etc arent the only ones that can build successful teams from within. at the very least why cant we be positive and roll with him until he proves us otherwise?
sure his BA dipped at the end of the year, but perhaps he was going through a slump (like he did in late august/early september) and then made adjustments and rebounded. perhaps he was trying to make new adjustments and just ran out of time.
personally id rather roll the dice with murph at second than castillo or hudson since he is at the age that 2B start to decline.
I agree, as long as he is a decent defender in the fall league and in the spring I think he is a great option at 2nd base.
Like you said I rather see a young guy like Murphy playing there instead of Castillo of course. I also rather see the money it would take to bring in Hudson go else where.
Agreed! Use him now unless you can get someone to offer you the moon for him like a Soria. Then you have to take it. (The piece that might turn in to something great is not as good as the one that already has.) Let’s see how this experiment plays out in Arizona. If he can hack it at 2nd, we have our Castillo replacement if nobody steps up to offer us up something we can’t refuse, like Soria or Peavy. They probably won’t, so we dump Castillo and our 2nd base solution is solved!
When Dan Murphy speaks, I listen. Guess we can stop with the hudson stuff bc murph says hes playing 2nd.
Seriously, Jeff Kent played 2B this season at age 40 for a playoff team. Even if Murphy is a little weak there this season, why not try it. You can always have a scrap heap guy be his defensive replacement.
Sign Jerry Hairston JR. He would be a great backup 2B and LF. In fact you could even platoon him and Murphy.
exactly. people worrying about the range on the right side are being a little nitpicky. no team is perfect. if our greatest weakness next year is our defensive range on the right side of our infield Omar did a GREAT job this offseason.
Yup, It’s not like you can’t upgrade Delgado after next season. Also, if you have a ground ball pitcher going you could slot Evans at 1st that day.
Plus if the Mets did not plan to use him at second base next season why would he playing there in the Fall league?
They would have him playing the OF or 1st base if that is where they where planing on playing him this coming season.
Makes no sense the Mets would have him playing 2nd if that was not the plan for next year.
Especially if it were 1B as he has played about 2 games there in his life.
Also, got here late on this one but why can’t we go after Peavy? It was said at MLBtraderumors that the Pads were looking for a young OF and 2 SP. Why not try a package of Fmart, Niese and Parnell? Yes that is a lot to give up but a rotation with Johan, Peavy Pelfrey for years to come sounds like it would be well worth it.
I think we’re on his no trade list, plus with the rumors floating around, players like Either/Kemp and Escobar/K. Johnson I don’t think that package is near enough. Especially since I don’t think Parnell has much value as a starting prospect most scouting reports I’ve seen said he could be a strong set up man or middle reliever but a back end of the rotation guy at best.
Wow, the negativity in some people around here is astounding. Is Murphy overrated? Possibly. Is he being over-hyped? More than likely. Is he still something to be excited about? YES! If I could have a team entirely of Daniel Murphys, I would push the rest of our team in front of the 7 train. At least then I would know that everyone is playing their freakin’ hearts out. This guy has exactly the kind of head on his shoulders this team has been seriously lacking. I say don’t go into next season expecting him to be a major contributor, but definitely give him every opportunity you can to show he can contribute. He’s done great with a small sample of playing time, so he’s earned an extended tryout with the team.
To those saying not to get excited about him I say: why not? After the past three years with this team, we all need something to get excited and positive about.
haha, is Murphy overhyped and not as good as we hope he is? Probably.
Would I throw my entire team in front of a train for 25 guys like him? Definitely!
Did I miss something?
anyways, just kidding. We as Mets fans have plenty to be excited about. My number one is Mike Pelfrey. Even with Santana, it was always Pelfrey’s start I was most excited to see every five days. In addition, we have Santana chasing another Cy Young to look forward to next season, as well as a BIG bounce back year from Johnny Maine! Our starting pitching was our main competitve advantage last season, and hopefully we can round out our rotation and it will be again this coming season. With good starters you always have a good chance to win and there’s plenty to be excited about.
Absolutely. It’s been great watching Big Pelf’s development. And I’m really hoping Maine can have a good bounce back year. People have been hating on our rotation for years now, but they’ve consistently been coming through as a strength, even with a series of injuries. Of course, I’ll happily put the Lima and Park experiments out of my memory…
Anyway, it’s just hard to read through the comment threads when there seems to be so much negativity. If all you do is hate on your team, why bother being a fan?
How about these scenerios:
Mets trade Beltran and Heilman to Sox for Youklis and Elsbury.
If Angels lose out on Tex sweepstakes, I think they will sign Krod(i think the Yanks will not be outbid on Tex).
Sign and trade Delgado to Angels for Kendrick and Jose Arredondo (flamethrowing RP with world of potential).
Sign Casey Blake for LF. (i’m in LA and saw alot of him. He is gritty and a gamer, just what the Mets need. As long as he stays healthy). Of course we could go after Manny here but we have to understand there wil be baggage.
Make a strong bid for CC.
These changes remodel the team, it’ll be a gritty team that’s easy to root for.
Lineup:
Reyes – SS
Elsbury – CF
Wright – 3B
Youklis – 1B
Church – RF
Blake – LF
Murphy – 2B
Catcher -
Rotation:
Santana
Pelfry
Sabathia
Maine
Neise (maybe sign Pedro for discount?)
Bullpen: (my initial preferences, room for additions)
Jose Arredondo – closer
Eddie Kunz
Joe Smith
Ayala
Stokes
Show
Bench: (need a lefty)
Catcher
Kendrick
Evans
Easly
Chavez
Tatis
You forgot a key part of your plan. The naked pictures of Theo Epstein with three young boys.
Elsbury and Youk give the Sox 12 cost-controlled years of borderline All-Star production. The Sox will not trade this for 3 years of Beltran at close to market value unless significant blackmail is involved.
Ummm…. That first part of your post, no offense intended, sounds ludicrous. Why would the Red Sox have any need to make that trade? Also, I have to believe they would want more than that for those guys, Heilman would be more of a ‘throw-in’ kind of guy. Elsbury is worth more than Heilman, and Youkilis and Elsbury are worth more than Beltran and Heilman combined. The Red Sox have a good thing going, they don’t need to get rid of one of their main guys in Youkilis.
The Sox could use an upgrdae in CF. A stud like Beltran seems like a good fit. He also helps offset the power shortage from Manny’s departure. In watching the playoffs they dont seem as scary to me.
I’m also thinking that they might not want Tex to go to the Yankees and could end up in the bidding for him. If that were to materialize, they would need to clear a spot for him (Ortiz stays the DH) and makes Youk expendable?
Maybe it’s all a reach, however I would not be against sweetening the package a bit to get it done. (maybe a prospect pitcher?)