Last week on SNY’s Mets Hot Stove Report, Kevin Burkhardt talked with Daniel Murphy about his 2008 season with the Mets, his home town, and his thoughts on next season.
During the interview, Murphy relays the following story, while taking batting practice:
“When I came (to Jacksonville University), as a freshman, and we were introducing ourselves, and they ask, ‘What’s your name, what position do you play,’ and, of course, being the 18–year-old idiot I was, I told them, ‘My name is Daniel Murphy, and I bat third.’ I was just kind of half joking, and serious at the same time.”
…i love it, man…that’s great…this kid is going to be my favorite player on the team, i can tell already…
To watch all of Murphy’s hitting session, during which he discusses his approach to hitting, click play below:
Also on Mets Hot Stove, Burkhardt talked by phone with Johan Santana, which you can watch by clicking here.
{ 179 comments }
he’s got chase utley type attitude.. hopefully his numbers as well.. ;-)
Daniel Murphy – “The Irish Hit Man” – I love this kid. I really do. Now that we are a bit removed from his early hot flash, I’ve been trying to determine if I truly feel taht he is the real deal. His plate discipline and hit ability to drive the ball the other way a la a young David Wright when he first came up lead me to believe that this guy will stick. I sure hope so, cause I love the way he plays the game.
my prediction for daniel murphy is 302, 21HR, 83 RBI.
i dont know about the 21 HR, but I definetly see him hitting over .300.
Wow, is this in his best year?
Maybe
.285 13 70?
trs,
are you going to start that whole strike zone arguement? please dont!
Nope, those are just the numbers I expect from a decent 2nd year player. Why should I expect more?
You are entitled to your opinion, i respect that.
Last 28 days .245 .322 .396 .718 .
thereal,
I am pretty sure those numbers are very comparable to most of the Mets lineup the last 28 days.
if he hits 320 we win the world series..
if he hits 320, it means he got injured.
Alex, i wish it were that easy.
lol, wow, optimism guys, he can do it right??
alex, im with you
My hope is that the Mets are forced into a Jose Valentin situation with Murphy. Can play 2B, rather he not start there. Whoops, Castillo gets injured and Murphy is hitting. Lets give it a try….
I like the guy, but I still think there’s a good chance he’ll be traded.
In the right trade, why not?
whats your idea of a “right trade” Whats our return?
Anything sensible that improves our ball club.
WOW!!, That sure narrows it down.
lol NYMETSFAN
I don’t know any better way to answer it than that.
Short answer (or maybe Long answer, we’ll see how this goes) though, If we could get a big time SP, or a big time 2B I’d do it. I am of the group who believes we have a very good offense. I, in fact, expect our offense to be better next year. So I think we have the most to gain by improving our rotation or finding that perfect fit at 2B.
By big time SP I mean a guy who is a lock for 200+ IP and a sub 3.50ERA who isn’t already 35+. Still the most intriguing name to me (that isn’t officially available, but has got to be at some point this year) is Halladay. I’d give up more for that guy than I should mention on this blog for fear of losing credibility.
As for a big time 2B, I mean a guy who could compete for a silver slugger AND a gold glove at 2B. And there is really only one of those guys in either league. So unless we can get my 2nd favorite player in baseball (not counting Mets players), I’d rather hang onto Murphy and run him out in LF.
roy oswalt
roy halladay
roy hobbs
Young SP or real OF.
Examples like yesterday
for Johnathan Sanchez or Delmon Young types.
Sanchez No, Young Maybe
Murphy could easily put up the same numbers as young put up in his 2 big league seasons, because they aren’t that good.
2006. 13HR, 93 RBI, 34 2b and a 288/316/408 line.
2007 10 HR, 69RBI, 28 2b and a .290/.336/.405
I know he was once a top prospect. And was moved last year for Matt Garza. If the mets could get a Matt Garza type in return for Murphy i’d say do it.
Jonathan Sanchez can be had for less. Same with Delmon Young at this point.
Where’s our Starting pitcher?
Locked away in the Scott Boras camp.
This pretty much sums everything up: (remove parantheses)
(umpbum)p.co(m/press/2009/01/13/braves-sign-derek-lowe-makes-a-m)et-fan-cry/
now were gonna be stuck with one of the worst bullpen killers in all of baseball
not if we sign sheets..
which unfortunately is not happening
You mean the still-developing starter who goes just 1/2 an inning less than that aging ace Lowe?
still developing. he’s 27. i could understand if he was showing some improvement but he put up numbers more fittting for a #5 starter than a number #2 which is what we need…
My point is that the gulf betI ween Ollie and Lowe has been exaggerated considering their relative ages, upside, probability for decline, and the parks they’ve pitched in.
If Ollie stays with the mets — an ideal situation for him IMO — I bet his numbers will be very close to Lowe’s next year. People are going to be surprised.
the same one!!! lol.. still developing !! lol.. goood line vcarver..
He’s 9 years younger than Lowe.
27 is still considered young for a pitcher and they always say lefties develop more slowly.
i hope u right.. if we sign him we’re stuck wit him for at least 3 years..
That’s what people forget Ollie is 27, but he’s an old 27. Meanwhile Jonathan Sanchez is 26 and people are all over his “Developing” stuff.
Ollie is still very young. While i’m not sure he will ever put it all entirely together, because he just all of a sudden throws this pitch from a submariner arm angle that leaves you scratching your head. He can be a very good and productive starting pitcher.
Go look at his stats last season on a game by game Basis. He wasn’t that bad. From May until the end of the season he really had all of 4 bad starts. He battled his ERA down from 5.7 which is where it was on june 2nd after a .1 inning 6er effort all the way down to 3.86 which is where it was on september 3rd. Do you realize he had 8 no decisions through august and september.
8 and that includes probably 2 games he should have lost. 6 of those games he should have won. 7 of them he went 6 innings.
Imagine what he would be getting he he won 6 or 7 more games.
Not saying he’s the savior. But he is a very good 27 year old left-handed pitcher.
P.S.His awful games were against Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Washington, and the Cubs. Outside the cubs, it’s more likely lack of concentration then lack of talent. Something that can indeed come with age.
Awesome interview. Makes me wish there was a Mets game today.
Burkhardt has the best job in the world. It’s freezing up here in NY and he gets paid to go down to FL to watch a kid taking batting practice. Bum!
Vcarver,
did you make up with Matt?? are you guys cool now?
LMAO!! 718, that colled off a bit..
LOL … nah I think he’s still pis-sed at me.
u shouldn’t had to apologize.. he did act a lil arrogant.. but i’m sure u moved on right..? unless ppl here remind u still of that.
I moved on right away but it seems some people here haven’t. ; )
Last 28 days .245 .322 .396 .718 for Murphy.
Again, anyone who thinks they have a clue what to expect from Murphy is just plain guessing. I hope they are right and he turns out to put up Church like numbers but nothing is certain at all.
if the right trade came along i’ll ship him..
trs,
like a i said above, im pretty sure that was consistent with pretty much the whole lineup.
Not at all.
Beltran
.325, .417, .614, 1.031
Delgado
.337, .392, .651, 1.043
Wright
.373, .459, .651, 1.110
Ugh, impossible. According to Fatcessa and many of those who drink his koolaid, the mets were chokers down the stretch!
lol.
He’s right.. i feel like we over achieve for the second half and we found our groove, but for the last 17 games having to face only the cubs, yes, we did choke.. again
No one ever knows for sure but he has a nice attitude and doesn’t seem like he”ll be rattled by NY or pressure and sometimes that’s half the battle.
Bernazard did a good job here!
Seriously, does anyone think that Murphy is actually a .390 OBP guy when it’s 40 points more than his minor league average?
I definetly can see him doing soemthing like
.310/.360.
You see him batting that for a whole season?
ABSOLUTELY!! .310 BA for him is not far fetched.
Why, show some stats to back this up. He never even hit that high in the minors.
I see him batting that in a video game, with me at the controller. He’ll have to play more than 49 games in the majors to prove he can bat just .300
I like him, but i’m not gonna expect him to be a Left handed David Wright, without the power either.
love the optimism metsfan but ur going to be in for a rude awakening..the guy has less then 200ab can we stop annointing him our savior? saying hes gunna hit 310 is hilarious
AGreed, Spink. And unfair to Murphy.
The guy is a career .290, .352 hitter in the minors. Maybe it’s started to click but .310 .360 are lofty numbers to place on a guy this early.
David Wright had a career .288 BA in the minors.
He also hit .363 at the age of 21 in AA.
Give the kid a shot before everyone runs him out of town in a trade.
No one on here is running him out of town. We are just being realistic. It’s not fair to put the pressure of .310, .360 on a guy like Murphy in his first full season. And in trade, if his value is high enough and can get a spot we need for a guy currently in a platoon, you do it.
i think we should stop the conventional Mets wisdom and stop shipping away our young players. Dont we learn from this already. Give him a shot before you trade him. Kazmir, LIdstrom, Mora,
Melvin Mora was 28 years old and had a .260 BA with a .317 OBP. Did you just throw that name in for the fun of it?
Lindstrom was a 27 year old minor league middle reliever who’s minor league numbers were average at best.
Kazmir was the worst trade in Mets history and was a #1 draft pick.
What does any of this have to do with Murphy?
Mora had some really good years with a bad baltimore team and playing in a pitchers park, They only gave him 1 yr major league experience and shipped him off for Mike Bordick?? Are u kidding me? Lidstrom is probably the marlins best releiver now. Im saying all this because you have to give players a chance before you let em go.
It can happen — see cabrera.
I’m not saying Murphy is a cabrera … just that sometimes players do improve on their minor league numbers.
Right, it is the exception not the norm and for certain not to be expected.
Agreed it is the exception. Though I bet I can find more example.
I would see what develops before trading him unless he nets something really worthwhile.
One Simple one is Hanley Ramirez. His minor league numbers never met his Prospect level. The marlins brought him up form AA to the majors to learn and he just exploded. He never hit about 310 outside rookie ball and hit .271 in 122 AA games before he was traded and hit .310 for the Marlins as a rookie.
I’m on the keep murphy bandwagon. At least give the kid a chance. Or if your trading him, get something better then Jonathan Sanchez or Delmon Young in return.
Does it really matter what any of us think since we don’t have crystal balls?
I think the nice part about Murphy is his maturity and composure for a rookie and his relative success breaking in.
He’s got a great attitude and It’s always nicer to root for homegrowns than tired veterans (though I know some disagree).
It was nice rooting for Tatis though.
Agreed. I don’t exactly put him in that group of tired old veterans. His year was actually inspiring and I don’t have a problem with Omar bringing him back.
Will these people root for him when’s he’s batting 30 points lower than they expected? If he gets 350 AB’s and bats over .310…i’ll personally run thru Central Park nekkid with a “I Believe in David Murphy” banner
Does he have to bat .310 to be successful?
Give me .280- .290 with a decent OBP and SLG PCT plus decent offense and baserunning and I’ll be happy. It’s only be his second year.
Me too.
My line of .285, 13 and 70 I thought was completely optimistic, not a slap in the face.
Carver i’ll be more than happy with that. Some people are expecting over 20 homers and a .310+ average. If he bats in the .280 i’m more than happy
TRS,
Those are very good projections for him. I do think he can have a higher BA, but i don’t see 20 hr. At least not next season.
But you are also ready to trade him for Jonathan Sanchez and Delmon Young.
“…i love it, man…that’s great…this kid is going to be my favorite player on the team, i can tell already…”
That’s If he makes it on the team.
Let’s say for arguments sake that any real LF is signed. That means our bench will be Tatis, Reed, Anderson, MI guy, and Castro.
Where’s Murphy? I doubt he’d start in Citi over Reed or Anderson.
Where are all these clueless people coming from?
not sure what ur saying here?
case, when someone replies negaatively without making sense of what their saying don’t replie back, it means they looking for attention..
sorry alex, I just can’t help needing to try to make sense of what people are saying.
For example, sometimes when I make it to church, the priest is this guy who no one understands, yet I still go because I’m hoping I’ll be able to understand him. I just can’t help it.
GOT YOU.. iam a lil bit less patient than you..
Now all you have to do is make the logical conclusion from this.
NO MANNY.
we don’t need the offense, and I’d rather develop Murphy and give him the shot.
we’ll need the offense with Santana, Pelfrey, Ollie, Maine and Redding as our rotation.
lets not kid ourselves Maine, Pelfrey, Redding and Ollie are not guarantees.
who on the phillies is a gaurantee outside of Hamels? Dont tell me moyer and Myers either.
yeah, but Maine can’t be worse than last year and Pelf had a horrible start last year, so it’s not like they were great last year. Redding should do better on the Mets and with a good bullpen (if he’s our fifth).
Ollie will be competing for the CY next year.
cy young award…you just lost all credibility
oleo, I had credibility? darn, now what am I gonna do?
“I’ve lost my credibility! I’ve lost my credibility,” in the best Daniel Day Lewis impersonation of the year. Thank you.
There is no indication that the offense should go down from last year. and with a better bullpen that’s dozens more wins.
deelee says:
January 13, 2009 at 1:14 pm
if he hits 320, it means he got injured.
THAT RIGHT THERE WAS JUST TOO FUNNY.
Coffee almost came out my nose reading that, good stuff.
I hope you are wrong though.
LMAO…that was hilarious. I hope Murphy is awesome, but I doubt it.
GINA !!!! Where’s my favorite “Metsblog voice of reason” when I need her ??!!
Probably doubled over from laughter as everyone is ready to make Murphy a hall of famer and then get ready to bash him if he ever gets traded.
No one is making the kid a HOFer, we just want the Mets to give him a shot. He obviosuly has skills.
I get it, all you are saying is give Murphy a chance! Sounds catchy!
Exactly. Skills and a great attitude which is half the battle in NY.
Give the kid a shot.
.310, .360 IS HOF type numbers from a kid with less than 200 AB’s.
.310/.360 is just an optimistic outlook and what i can he can deliver. Im not saying this is what he is gonna give the mets, nor do i epxect it, all im saying is that this is very doable from him.
and what i think he can deliver*
From my point of view, that’s how I view most people on Murphy. I hope Murphy turns out to be good and if he can be even half of what David Wright is then that’s great.
It just seems people expect him to keep his batting average above .300 for the entire season and drive in more than 80 RBI’s. He might, you never know but I think that’s too much to put on a kid. We really did get spoiled with David Wright’s progression.
You are right, but lets at least give him a full season and see what he does.
It just depends on what his trade value is and what we can get in return.
Would everyone just chill out about the lack of moves this offseason. We have the Nats and Marlins right where we want them.
ha, that’s the plan all along. Be able to win game 162. Nice!
Not to be a j erk, but why do I read things on this blog that are from like days ago? You post things I’ve read on mainstream websites that were news more than 48 hours ago…and I remember this already being mentioned somewhere.
And considering you are “in the know” with SNY, how about some updates on actual player moves regarding the Mets instead of these fluff pieces?
The wonder if the internet is that blog posts don’t take up newspaper space. Posting one doesn’t take away from others.
Scroll along dude..and the Lowe/Braves thing has been updated here as quick as anywhere else, which is the player move of note so far this week.
So instead of seeing something about the Mets and their counter-move, I read about Daniel Murphy and a video that is over a week old which I saw on SNY myself.
I know what a blog is and he does a good job, by and large, but he’s also a part of the SNY family and he should have some inside access to post rumors…which is what a blog is.
Again, I want to hear/read about things the Mets are going to do to counter the Braves moves.
Why no love for Nick “The Stick” Evans on Metsblog? A full season in AAA should help the kid, who has had great numbers at every level in the minors, and plays great defense at 1b.
I’m going to be crucified for this, but i kind of like Evans more. Because he has more pop.
murphy and evans had similar numbers in the minors like year, maybe he can still be a productive major league player. remember he is younger than murphy.
Because he has a really, really slow bat and his baseball actions are stiff and unathletic. No offense to Evans, who came on at the end of the season, but he still has a lot to prove, and I don;t think his ceiling is anywhere close to Murphy’s.
Trade Murphy, keep Evans.
If Danny Murphy can hit .280 with 12 HR i’d be very happy. anything more than that is wishful thinking…
Completely agree.
and if Tatis can hit .260 with 12 HR then that would be a solid platoon but it still gives us a very very weak bottom of the order…
so hit murphy 2nd. Lefty, takes pitches, but he can actually hit the ball to the OF to!
If we don’t bring in a LF then he should not be in a platoon. Let him be the LF until he can’t be. And yes he should be batting 2nd but our bottom of the lineup with Church, Schnieder, Castillo is still weak.
Not very safe of Burkhardt to be in the cage like that while he is hitting!
I’m tired of thinking about pitching. Just sign someone, and move on.
Now, I would rather think up radical moves for Omar to pull out of his (banned word here..)
THink big baby!
How about getting Young and Teagarten (sp?) from Texas? Rids them of a headache and bad contract. mets get catcher they need. But who knows what the prospect cost is (omar can fill that part in).
Castillo gets moved with a ton of cash (OK, cut!) or hits the bench.
Schnieder goes for what he can bring back.
Sign Abreu if he really is coming cheap for 1-2 years, or stick with Murph
Sure it’s a pipe dream, but not that far from the realm of possibility. And if you don’t like this package, think of another one.
SP will then be filled out from internal or cheaper FA offerings (garland, wolf, etc. or even Perez).
but a line up of: Reyes/Young/DW/Delgado/Beltran/Abreu/Church/teagarten looks a heck of a lot better than what they have now!
sure, and that leaves you with a absolutely horrible starting rotation.
rotation will be fine. Santana, Maine and Pelfry are already locked in. Just add a couple of # 4 types, and good to go.
Ollie probably comes back anyway.
The Mets rotation already is as good as any other team in the division (although the marlins is pretty good!)
i kno some people love murphy, but sayin there was a deal we could work out using fmart,murph, and a couple other pieces would u do it? im talkin about for a top of line starter like oswalt/halladay..cant think of others right now that would be dealt..cuz i for one would trade those prospects in a heartbeart cuz as of right now our rotation is looking like middle of the pack
Unless you are talking about Peavy,Oswalt,Hallady Caliber player. there is no trade (IMO) that i would include Murphy in untill i give him a shot.
LOL, that’s just plain silly.
As someone who saw the kid play before
he got to Shea,no doubt he looks like he
knows what he’s doing at the plate.
that said so did Magadan & jefferies.
Heres hoping the kid forces his way into
the lineup everyday BUT Omar still needs
to p.u. one of the still available PROVEN
OF bats. This way we don’t have to hope
that Murphy turns out to be real good and
both Tatis and Church are healthy and give
us the best of what they did last year.
Anyone notice that Murphy hit .400 against LHP in limited AB’s? You change that to his career averages against LHP and you get a guy that did NOT bat over .300.
thereal,
Did Murphy steal your girlfriend in High School?
Nope, was he yours?
Come on Metsfan, what has he done to make you think he will be a great player? He may or may not be. I do know that he does not have a position and we need a LF, 2B, C, 2SP. If he can bring back any of those with a young talented player then I am game.
Unfortunetly we already have a 2B, and 2C’s. His position is in LF. All im saying is give the kid a shot people. Sheesh.
We have no choice but to give him a shot. But, however, if we could get Abreu for LF and trade Murphy for pitching I would be all for it.
unless that SP is an Ace, i’d rather have Murphy in Left than Abreu.
Again, that’s just silly. There is not a GM out there that would give up an ace for Murphy.
Sanchez for Murphy would be a STEAL. Murphy will be a solid at best player without a true position. Seriously, what position does he play? LF, 1B with those power numbers? He’s not a great defender so it’s not a Church situation and he’s played about 3 games at 1B so it’s no Olerud situation either.
I am 100% sure that a package that includes Murphy, would be better than anything chicago has offered SD for peavy.
uve got a point thereal..murphy really has no position..hes not gunna be in left field because of fmart..I cant see him at first because we need a guy with power there after delgado is gone..i laugh when i hear people say 2nd base because murphy is no 2nd baseman. He has no fit on this team as an everyday player
why are you so in love with Jonathan Sanchez, Ollie is the same pitcher.
Seriously? in a weak farm system Murphy would not even be in the top 2. If you wanted Peavy it would start with FMart not Murphy.
As for your comment on Sanchez, you are right about the Perez comment, only that he is a little younger and will be a LOT cheaper. Thus allowing you to actually upgrade your offense.
I’m with you on Murphy. I dont think he’s proven anything yet. At this point, I’m more interested in selling high on him if we can get good return, father that pin my future hopes on him.
TRS, I expect better from you.
Why not just up his #s against RHP? Or at night? Or anything else that was below career norms?
besides, that’s why they call it an average!
Also, Murphy is the kind of guy that reaslistically should improve. His as-sets (patience, plate discipline) are more valuable in the majors, and less so in the minors.
The guys that put up good MiL #s then bomb inthe majors are often the big free swingers (with lots of holes in the swing) and no plate discipline. Easier to get away with that in the minors
Why would I up his averages against RH when they are already above career norms.
The guy has had 1 good year total in the minors and majors. Lets see what happens first.
In fact he was not even THAT good of an OBP guy until this season.
Maybe he gets better or maybe he just had a good year. But to make out like he is destined to be a .300, .370 hitter is just insane.
In fact if his trade value is as that we should trade him.
Anyone notice that one of the featured stories on yahoo.com is the Met’s logo fiasco? Good PR for the team, I think not.
What, did that patch steal your girlfriend in high school?
lol
no you didn’t, and no the patch did not steal my girlfriend in high school. Thanks for asking.
I did steal my neighbor’s girlfriend, but then she left me for another guy. And that’s why I’ve been locked in my basement ever since.
It DID steal my girlfriend though. And triple teamed her with the Dominos Logo and the Noid. Cant wait for my chance at revenge
Murphy is a solid young ballplayer but I’m not going to predict what he will hit. Murph’s going to have to adjust and that might cause his average to dip below .300 until he figures it out. I’m going to say Murphy gets too pull happy during the season when pitchers start throwing inside to him. I think he’ll wind up with a .285 average and a .350 OBP.
And I predict what Murphy will hit anyway. LOL Oh well. I figure he’ll hit around there anyway.
what are we going to do about the bottom third of our order. Castillo, Schneider, Murphy, Church cant be our regular starters if we’re going to get to the playoffs.
i know we cant have a lineup full of great players but having 4 great hitters 1 decent, 1 rookie and 2 awful hitters is not going to work unless we have a dominant staff and that isnt the case with the Mets.
Easy,
Reyes, Murphy, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Church, Schnieder/Castro, pitcher, Castillo.
yea funny
but seriously how about bringing in better players to replace the ineffective ones.
why not bring in Manny and have Murphy play some 2nd and RF and also be the primary backups at LF, 1B and 3B.
Reyes, Beltran, Manny, Wright, Delgado, Church, Murphy/Castillo Catcher will win so much more games than
Reyes, Murphy, Beltran, Wright, Delgado, Church, Castillo, Catcher
This team has more question marks than a game of Jeopardy. It could finish anywhere from first to fourth and not really surprise anyone. The only relative givens on this team are Santana, Wright, Reyes and Krod. Other than that you’re left with gambles. Which Church will show up? Which Tatis? Which Delgado? Will Maine recover from surgery? Can Pelfrey bounce back from throwing 200 innings? Will Murphy adjust to pitchers adjusting to him? Are we getting the Redding of 2008 or 2005-2007, when he was 3-12 with an ERA of about 7 and constantly injured?
This team is weak at a minimum two positions out of eight, perhaps as many as 4 depending on Church’s recovery and the left field platoon. Its biggest moves in the offseason so far are replacing their closer with someone that’s a marginal improvement (only because of age) and improving their bridge to him.
This seems to be Minaya’s MO: Make a significant move or two, then try to catch lightning in a bottle in other positions. That’s a strategy for middle market teams, not the second most valuable franchise in the sport. This team is a house of cards, and as constituted pretty much everything has to fall in place for them to have any shot at winning this division, let alone competing for the WS. It’s a shame, but nothing new.
I’ve been following this team for 35 years, and unfortunately they’ve never really learned how and when to go for the throat. It’s the curse of feeling happy to just be in the game – “playing meaningful games in September” was one of the most revealing quotes the Wilpons ever made – rather than feeling outraged that someone had the audacity to beat you, and it trickles down from the top.
I think Beltran is a given too.
Also, I really like Putz.
I’m not high on any of the other guys you mentioned, but if they can produce in a mediocre way, this team will compete for the division.
Honestly, I think this team is in a good position to get to the playoffs. I just dont think it will win once it gets there.
Once you get in, its a totally new ballgame.
I.E. The dodgers sweeping the cubs. Who saw that coming?
didnt expect a sweep but considering they had Manny playing his best baseball of his career and with that pitching staff, I actually thought they would go to the WS.
i agree 100%
although its the guys like Pelfrey, Maine, Castillo, Church and Murphy that will determine how far this team can go
Sorry, forgot about Beltran. Agreed.
This is an absolutely great post.
Maybe I agree w/everything you said not
only b/c I too have been a die-hard since ‘73
but b/c It sounds like something I’d have
posted(and pretty much have). Only disagreement is your Pelp point. Pls keep in
mind thiskid was a 1st round pick who when
drafted was projected to be a top of the rotation Pitcher compared to Webb by many.
I think he’ll con’t to grow into an excellent
MLB SP. But again, this post was right on.
Great job!
“depending on Church’s recovery ” – can we move on from this already. This happened over 8 months ago. As the the heart of your post, I would add that you left out beltran, who at this point, I think we can say is fairly reliable. With regard to your overall point, look everyone is going to have questions. find me one team that has the answer at every position, and I will show you a team that is going to end up differently than they started. Happens every year both with competing teams and lower division teams.
How can we “move on” when this guy is
being looked as our best corner OFer and
we have no idea what we’ll get out of him?
Church was pretty awful the last two months of last year. I don’t think it’s a given that he’ll be the same player he was pre-concussions…some athletes never fully recover from head injuries. At best he’s an unknown.
EXactly! Plus what was Ryan Church before
he had a couple good months last year?
Not denying his importance or the fact that the Mets need him to produce, just saying that whether he does or not, in my opinion, at this point, can’t be blamed on the concussion. Now before you say anything, no, I am not a doctor, and yes I understand how head injuries have a funny way of playing themselves out, but at this point, I think you just have to judge his production like anyone else. I mean Beltran collided with Mike cameron 3 years ago, we don’t continually bring that up every time he goes into a slump. I hope he produces like he was before he suffered the concussion, but if he doesn’t I’m not going to blame it on the concussion.
Its a little crazy to try to predict what Murphy is going to do. Just sit back enjoy seeing the kid develop. Its unfair to him to start crowning him, but I won’t be surprised if he produces at a high level.
I loved the interview, and I would say that that might be the best Met interview I have ever seen. Where else would you rather interview a hard working hitter but in the batter’s box taking BP. Great.
He is fast becoming one of my favorites.
I cant say I am that upset at the fact we missed out on Lowe, but where are the Mets spending to improve? I do not see it!
I have to admit I am getting a little disgruntled. Why?
Well, I am a full season ticket holder, who had a choice Mezzanine Box seat.
My promise of a comparable seat, placed me in a seat one tier up at a 10% increase of cost. Sound good? Well, know that the level above Field level (i.e. “loge”) at Citi Field resides where the Mezzanine Level use to reside at Shea at a price 3 times of what a Mezzanine seat cost at Shea, and the second level above Field Level (i.e. mezzanine”) at citi field is also the upper deck. Why so high? Like Arthuer Ashe Stadium seats, the luxury box pushes the upper deck even higher. So, my commitment to the Mets leaves me with a nose bleed seat at only a 10% increase.
As you can imagine, this means that Mets are raking in the cash from the new “loge” level which as I mentioned is three times the cost that it was last year. I can’t imagine how much more Field level is.
So where are the Mets spending this windfall? They should be spending this time of year.
honestly i feel Omar is convinced that Castillo, Church, Murphy, Tatis etc. are good enough and thats pretty sad if you ask me
On a team with a “win now” mentality, why is it so imperative to give Murphy a shot? His natural skills are not overwhelming… I think we Met fans are famished for young talent, but going for youth for the sake of youth is not the answer either. Ollie, impact players like Wright and Reyes, Pelfrey? Sign me up… Fmart and Parnell, sure… But just to automatically think someone should get a shot bc they are young is wrong. We are not rebuilding. The thought of throwing the LF job to Murphy while leaving Manny, Dunn, Abreu, etc. hanging is disturbing to say the least (they are proven and known entities) And also, while not every player needs to be an all star, we in NY fail to realize many teams have more than 1 impact youngster. Longoria, Crawford, Pena…. Hanley Ramirez, Cameron Maybin, Dan Uggla… Jed Lowrie, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, etc. We don’t need to swoon over mediocre role players and be against improving the team. Youth with legit impact talent=yes… “Scrappy” is usually (save for Pedroia) a euphemism for minimally talented.
uggla is 29 in march…not exactly a youngster
I don’t understand why so many people are hating on Murph right now. Regardless of what you think of his “natural skills” or his “prospect level”, the guy was given on opprotunity last year. That opprotunity was 100+ AB’s, and he delivered a .313 avg. That’s more than Alex Escobar did, better than Lastings Milledge ever did (two 5 tool prospects we all drooled over in years past). I don’t expect him to hit 313 again, but i’d like to think hes capable. I’m just saying, in his defense, the guy was given one opprotunity and fared very well in that opprotunity. To say that he can’t be a factor in the lineup is totally disregarding what he showed us
I think we all want him to do well….but lets face it, he is not even coming in as an everyday player, which tellls you the team doesnt think he is that good….he came up and lit the world on fire, buit in the last 20 (which is about 40% of his time in the big leagues) games only batted 242….he has also shown no power what so ever…and for someone without a key defense position (CF, 2B, SS or C) that does not bode well for a long and productive career…i say if we can trade for a good pitcher i wouldnt hesitate to put him in any deal…he ll be in the minors by the all star break
It’s not that I hate him, it is just I see him inevitably fizzling out. Some posters here see him as the second coming of Wright or someone of that caliber. He should not sniff time at 1b with his power, and he is by no means a blue chip talents. If you think this means I am saying chances to start at the beginning of the yr should be give to only blue chip talent…. well, yeah I am. The only case where this does not occur is in a situation of dire emergency (young playerwise). And I also happen to think that batting average is a grossly overrated stat. I mean if you seriously think about the math… what is the difference between a .220 hitter an a .300 hitter, the latte gets a hit .8 times more out of every 10 abs? That is meaningless. Give me an oaf of a slugger any day of the week.
that might have been the most idiot thing i have ever heard….there is a huge difference between a 220 hitter and a 300 hitter….like sent back to the minors and possible HOF…please dont post here again….ever !!!!
*idiotic….
why does the first basemen have to have power if you can get it from another position? maybe a left fielder could do the job (MANNY RAMIREZ!!!)?
I sorta concur, but feel we need both. Most teams get power from the corner infield spots and 2 OF spots. We have the luxury of Beltran, one of the few run producing CFers, so a guy like Church even at 15-70 is fine. But we still need the extra thumper. Think about other teams… Howard-Utley (rather than 3b), Burrell, and Werth (26 HRs). Bay, Youkilis (29 HRs), Ortiz, Lowell, Drew (less power recently but w/e). Braun, Prince, Corey Hart, JJ Hardy, Bill Hall. I mean we could go team by team on it, but clearly LF is usually a source of pop along with 1b.
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