The people who think Murphy is a poor defender at first base are hung on the fact that he made a handful of bad decisions (typical of a rookie playing a new position). What they failed to see was that his range and speed at the position was considerably above average, and his ability to field a ground ball was better than expected as well. In fact, Jerry Manuel was even quoted in an interview towards the end of the year as saying that Murphy had really impressed him defensively at first base.

I watched Murphy make a number of plays that a guy like Carlos Delgado doesn’t have the grace or speed to even consider. In particular, the number of times that Murphy picked a ground ball and went to second base, third base, or home, in situations where Delgado is settling for the out at first, was significant.

Delgado appears to be a better first baseman to the untrained eye simply because with 15 years of experience at the position, he looks the part. But in truth, the guy has zero range and is unable to bend down to make any plays on balls to his left or right that are low. He has a mediocre arm and a tentative approach at first base. All of this is fine, of course, because like so many first baseman in this league he is actually a converted DH. He is paid to hit homeruns, not to play defense.

With a full year of experience at first base behind him, look for Murphy to continue to improve defensively at first base, and actually impress a number of people with his hands, arm and quickness. Delgado, another year closer to permanent retirement, will only continue to decline defensively. In fact, Delgado is close to being ready for a full time DH role at this stage of his career, especially with the injuries.

Yes, Delgado’s defense IS as bad as some think. And this year it was worse than Murphy’s. (Using UZR/150.) Think … Murphy who played the position for the first time in his career, was better than Delgado with the glove. Given that, and given Delgado’s age and injuries, the most reasonable expectation is that the gulf would even widen next year in terms of defense … as Murphy would improve with experience and Delgado’s range and reaction times would be worse due to age and health issues.

You could accept Delgado’s poor fielding if he could reliably provide 100+ RBIs a year. But those days are over. Unless he becomes just a DH. If he tries to play the field anymore, expect him to have injury plagued seasons like Moises Alou for the rest of his career.

Murphy was actually an above league average defender at first base this year. Unfortunately, Wilpon-Omar-Howard didn’t educate Francessa on that fact yesterday and let him prattle on with his anti-Murphy propaganda.

Laugh. Out. Loud.

The K-Rod contract is excellent. His .ERA/.WHIP blew up when the wheels came completely off the cart at the end of the year. Schoenweis was unfairly lambasted by Mets fans, this is true… but he, along with the other bullpen all-stars of ’07 and ’08 had the Armando Bentiz-ish ability to give up big hits at the worst possible moment. K-Rod is clutch.

Seriously… if you think the K-Rod contract is bad, you just have no clue.

Manuel’s managerial style is from the 1930s and 40s; meanwhile we have ultra-prepared managers like Tony LaRussa, Mike Scioscia, Ron Gardenhire, and Jim Tracy getting the absolute maximum out of their talent levels. Manuel’s still playing his “gut” and saying things like “the big guy is a good pitcher for them” when he’s talking about Josh Johnson, one of the premier pitchers in the National League. He has no clue who anyone is. He could Prince Fielder, “that guy Felder” three times. This guy can’t be a major league manager in this day and age. Wilpon is a joke if he thinks Manuel is capable of getting the absolute most out of the team that’s handed to him.

As for this Bobby V nonsense, it has to stop. This process is about moving forward, not craving nostalgia. Compare it to hockey and Maniac Mike if you want (even though I loved Keenan). bobby Vs habits of irregular OFs, constanrly flipping around the order, and overusing the pen would not fly in today;s game. If he was that good, he would have found immediate emplyment in the bigs after he lost control of the admittedly overpriced, veteran Mets (this team has Vets too). Somehow I do not think his exile to Japan (and yes that is what it was) was self imposed… Showalter on the other hand is intriguing, although I can’t pinpoint the reason.

Anyhow, I agree Minaya should be axed, but even if he is not, do they establish themselves as buyers in the market? I do not think they are as close to being legit as many think, even if they come back healthy… It sounds really offbeat (although I have hit on this beat a dozen times), but maybe they do very little, eat a bad financial year (which would be offset if they explained to fans they want to retool/rebuild), and hope 2 or 3 players bounce back and become viable trade bait for youth…

If you listened to the interview today, you’ll realize that’s exactly what the said. Francesca kept asking them if they would commit to spending money this offseason, and Wilpon kept responding that, yes, they COULD spend money, but they weren’t necessarily going to do that just for PR purposes. They said they will make the moves that they determine will best improve the club, regardless of how much or how little those moves cost in terms of dollars or prospects.

And every team gives out good contracts and bad contracts.
Ollie = Bad Contract
Johan = Good Contract
K-Rod = Good Contract
Wright = Good Contract
Schoenweis = Bad Contract
Reyes = Good Contract
Castillo = Bad Contract

Etc., etc…

I don’t want to hear you say that you’re going to go out there and throw your money around. Spend wisely for once.