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Who Wants Matt Murton?

By Tim Dierkes [March 27, 2008 at 10:57am CST]

26 year-old Cubs outfielder Matt Murton is very much available now that they've signed Reed Johnson. PECOTA gives Murton a .295/.359/.462 projection for '08; ZiPS says .289/.360/.465. Here are the league averages from 2007:

AL left fielder: .275/.335/.426
NL left fielder: .278/.358/.478

AL right fielder: .288/.359/.465
NL right fielder: .275/.344/.442

These numbers are presented in the form of batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage. You can see that Murton is comfortably in the league average offensive range for a corner outfielder. He'll be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this season. Let's look at some trade possibilities. (As for what the Cubs would want in return - I'll guess a lefty reliever or just a prospect or two).

Rays - DRays Bay suggests Murton could help in right field, not a bad idea.
Padres - The Justin Huber acquisition makes this less likely.
Rangers - They rejected a Murton for Marlon Byrd proposal, and now the Cubs don't need Byrd.
Orioles - He was connected to them until they acquired Luke Scott and Adam Jones to fill out their outfield.
Red Sox - The Cubs no longer have a need for Coco Crisp, even if the Sox had mild interest in re-acquiring The Big Murt. Murton wouldn't start in Boston anyway. Still, Buster Olney says there's still some chatter that the Red Sox will go after him.
Athletics - Some folks think Billy Beane will pluck Murton simply because he's underrated. The A's don't seem to have any kind of opening for him.
Braves - Murton doesn't project as much of an upgrade over Matt Diaz.
Mets - Could make sense for a team thinking about running Fernando Tatis out in left. Longer-term, Murton could be an oft-used fourth outfielder, spelling Moises Alou and Ryan Church.
Giants - Would be a nice low-pressure place to see what Murton can do, but they're already loaded with outfielders.
What are your thoughts on a good fit for Murton?