The Nationals have interest in free agent Daniel Murphy, a baseball source tells Bill Ladson of MLB.com. Second base has been one of the Nationals’ biggest needs this offseason so a pursuit of Murphy would make a good deal of sense.
Murphy, 31 in April, boasted the best contact rate in baseball among qualified hitters in 2015. After hitting a career-high 14 home runs in the regular season, Murphy smashed seven more in the span of seven postseason games against the Dodgers and Cubs. On the flipside, Murphy is a below average defensive second baseman who owns a weak -6.3 UZR/150 rating. Last year, he managed only a -3.3 UZR/150 rating at second base which actually turned out to be the best of his career.
At the outset of the offseason, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted that Murphy would land a four-year, $56MM deal with the Angels, Yankees, and White Sox getting involved. At the time of this writing, it’s not exactly clear who the leading teams are for the infielder, who turns 31 in April. The incumbent Mets apparently haven’t ruled out a reunion with Murphy, though they would like to sign him to a one- or two-year deal. Meanwhile, with unprotected first round picks will have to think long and hard before signing Murphy, who rejected the Mets’ QO earlier this offseason.
Earlier this week, the Nationals reportedly had trade discussions with the Reds regarding Brandon Phillips. While Phillips is intriguing, Washington is said to be gunning for a left-handed hitting second baseman to bring balance to their lineup. Murphy could do just that, though he cannot offer defense on the level of Danny Espinosa.
Murph. Where ever u end up. Good luck. Was great seeing u in the orange and blue. For whatever team gets him. U r getting a fantastic hitter, but one of the dumbest players to ever step on the field. Running blunders and fielding mishaps will drive u nuts. Leading mets announcer to coin the phrase “murph being murph”.
He has played left field in the past.
Maybe they shift him there.
As a mets fan watching him in LF his first couple of years in the bigs was horrendous. He can barley play second why in earth would you ever like to see him in LF? If im the Nationals id go with signing Dextor Flower. Hes a switch hitter and would fit perfect in CF next to Werth and Harper. Id hive him a nice 5 year contract with money between 50-70mill
Hahahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha!
Oh man, I hope so. As a Mets fan, that would make my day.
Wish the “like” button was still there. Completely agree.
As a Mets fan, I’d love that.
Could be, it’s been a year of division rivals stealing away players so far.
For a team that saw a SS struggle with defense for most of 2015 (Desmond), signing a well below average defender for an AAV of around $14mil for 4 years would be absurd. The goal should be to improve
team defense in 2016 instead of staying the same by losing a bad defender and gaining one. A trade for BP makes much more sense for the Nats as he has around 2yrs $24mil left on his contract and is ozzie smith-like compared to murphy with the glove and can swing it as good as or even better than murphy. Also would free up money for the reds and allow them to find a stop gap player at 2b (like suarez) until peraza is ready to go by 2018. Would be good for both teams.
They should be calling the Red Sox’s about Brock Holt I’m sure there is a deal there the sox don’t really need him
Holt has a ton of value in that he can play almost anywhere. The Sox aren’t giving him up for scraps. They don’t have a “real” need for him since he doesn’t really start and is a super-utility guy, but they also need him because of the fact that he is a super-utility guy.
Especially with Sandoval and Hanley’s struggles
He’s played LF, but trust me when I say that the only way you want to see him play LF is if you are a fan of the other team. There’s a legitimate reason the Mets gave up on the OF experiment with Murphy. He played 3b in the minors and was blocked there by Wright, and the Mets needed a LF at the time. They tried him at 1b for a while and he can play the position fairly well now, but his bat does not play at the position very well. Eventually they moved him to 2b to see how he would do there and he’s made a home for himself. His bat plays much better at 2b, his defense has gotten a little better, and they learned to take the bad with the good. He was my favorite Met player for a few of his six years with the team and he’s very fun to watch and easy to root for. He is the kind of guy you want to succeed, because his collar is as blue as the come and you can tell that he still enjoys playing the game. He can play any of the bases besides catcher, but he’s not a LF.
How is his third and first sir?
He’s decent at both. He won’t win any awards for either, but he’s decent. Defensively, 2b is easily his weakest position but his bat plays the best there. He doesn’t have a LOT of games at 1b, but he’s played enough there that he’s comfortable doing it, and he played 3b exclusively in the minors. He would be a superb addition for a team in need of a utility player who could rotate around the bases on a daily basis, if they could still provide him enough AB’s and it didn’t affect the other areas of his game. Otherwise, he’s a 2b or 3b who can cover the other spots for you as needed, because his bat plays better from those positions.
Wherever he goes though, he’s sure to be a fan favorite in no time. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who works harder or is more down to earth either. He isn’t the flashiest player in the world, but he just hits a LOT and puts everything he has into the game.
So in theory, he could play 3B the majority of the time for the Nats while Rendon goes back to 2B.
Alright, it’s not the craziest thing.
Oh wait, he had a qualifying offer. Maybe it’ll sting less if Desmond finds a home soon to offset that.
His best position, by far, is third base. He can defensively play first just fine, obviously not a good enough hitter, though.
I think it would be better for the Nats to go in with an infield of Rendon, Espinosa, and a stopgap option at SS with Turner waiting in the wings for later in the season. Locking up an infield position for Murphy or Phillips just doesn’t make sense at this point. I understand wanting depth, but I think Espinosa is a better option than both of those players for the Nats right now.
Hm, the Nationals really like their controversial religious figures.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR2005092002093.html
This should explain my opinion of “Murphy to the Nats.” His 2015 record vs Nats pitchers in a less than stellar year of pitching:
.171/.179 /.250 /.429
Royals need this guy. The Mets can just resign. Him and try him at SS.
…… I’m going to assume that’s a joke.
Uhhh, Zach…Mets traded for Neil Walker. They’re not signing Murphy.
They just signed a shortstop to a multi-year deal and already have two other starting shortstops under control for multiple years and they have a nice shortstop about readyto make the team and I think one of their top prospects is a shortstop and Murphy was on the team for 7 years and didn’t play shortstop and he can barely play second base and can’t play shortstop.
Shot in the dark, but perhaps Goins/Travis of the Jays could be available? Goins value may be higher after a great 2nd half and gold glove caliber defense, but Travis’ value may be low. Had an awesome start but had some shoulder issues.
Just grab Brandon Phillips, he can be had for a song. A couple lower level B prospects, one a lottery ticket and one with minimal upside.
Uh, the Mets haven’t ruled out bringing him back? Yes, they have. They acquired Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera. Murphy isn’t coming back.
Depending on what the Reds are trying to do, he could be an option at 3B for them since they have a protected 2nd round pick. It’s a question of how completely they’re willing to tank now that they’ve traded Cueto and Frazier and are looking to move Phillips. A team like that definitely shouldn’t be giving up a first rounder but punting a 2nd rounder might be plausible.
There used to be an edit button…
The Athletics could be another more realistic option now that they’ve traded Lawrie. That’s another team that wouldn’t lose a first rounder that could use a 3B with positional versatility. He’s a much better fit at the hot corner than the keystone and a team probably shouldn’t be giving up a first round pick for him.
This might seem heretical, but how different is Murphy than the post season 2013 Stephen Drew– player with a bit of pop who can handle more than one position, but not a star. Murphy is more durable, but Drew was a better fielder. Both QO, both looking for big bucks
I don’t see the Drew comparison at all. First of all, when dealing with Drew, you had to deal with Boras. Second, Drew had started his decline, everyone was weary, and rightly so as time has shown. Murphy has not been in decline and keeps finding ways to get better. He worked on his swing over the last few months of the season and started hitting more HR’s to RF. He’s always been a hard worker and you know what you’re going to get out of him. Finally, Murphy will get a contract and will deserve it because he’s versatile and a left handed hitter who can hit LHP with the best of them. Drew did not get one and didn’t deserve one either.. He was one of the better options at the time, in a very thin market, but nobody was buying Boras’ rhetoric of the year that time.