Veteran outfielder David Murphy has retired, as SportsDay’s Gerry Fraley and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram both report. (Fraley posted the news earlier today, with Wilson following up later with quotes from Murphy.)
“Basically, it got to the point where playing this game and living this lifestyle wasn’t worth it any more to be away from my family,” says Murphy. Retirement is “permanent,” he adds.
Last year, Murphy batted a solid .283/.318/.421 in 391 plate appearances, although defensive metrics suggested somewhat of a decline in the quality of his work in the field, and his career .258/.305/.350 line against lefties means he likely needed to be platooned. Earlier this season, Murphy had opted out of minor-league deals with the Red Sox and Twins, and it had previously been reported that he would consider retiring if he wasn’t able to land a big-league job. One such job did open for Murphy with Minnesota, but he reportedly told the Twins he wanted to be with his family instead.
The 34-year-old Murphy was the 17th overall pick in the 2003 draft (and the first draft pick of Theo Epstein’s tenure with the Red Sox). He made it to the big leagues with Boston in 2006, then headed to Texas in 2007 as part of a deal for Eric Gagne. Murphy established himself as a solid corner outfield option with the Rangers, playing parts of seven seasons there before heading to the Indians and then the Angels. His best offensive season was probably 2012 with Texas, when he batted .304/.380/.479 and hit 15 home runs. For his 10-year big-league career, Murphy finishes with a .274/.333/.432 line, with 104 big-league homers. Via Baseball Reference, he made at least $24MM in his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Its a shame he couldn’t find a team, however its the price he pays for not putting up good WAR numbers since 2012.
He found a team the Twins were preparing to call him up when he decided to retire. They also lost the catcher they tried to sneak through waivers, while making a spot for Murphy
I feel like this is a dig at WAR as a stat, but Murphy would have had a job if he hadn’t decided to retire, as baseballrat noted. 476, 462 and 391 PAs over the past three seasons isn’t exactly not finding a team.
Yea…. Some people don’t even watch baseball games anymore. They just pull up what the (WAR, BABIP, etc) then start posting like they know everything. It’s borderline comical
Retirement is the price he pays? Guy was still a solid corner outfielder and still was a consistent hitter, he paid no price he went back to his family
Congratulations on the fantastic career – 10 seasons in the Majors is a great achievement.
Although, I don’t think it was necessarily the demands of playing the game and living the lifestyle – I think it may have been simply not being good enough to get a Major League gig anymore.
The Twins were making preparations to call up outfielder David Murphy before he advised GM Terry Ryan that he wished to return to his family, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Minnesota attempted to pass catcher John Hicks through waivers to clear a roster spot, ultimately losing him to the division-rival Tigers as a result. It certainly appears that the 34-year-old Murphy is headed for retirement, though nothing has been formally announced. Murphy had high praise for the way that Ryan handled things, saying that the veteran executive “showed that he genuinely cared about the situation I was in.”
I can definitely stand corrected if that’s the case!
Fantastic career David, well done.
I always confused you with Daniel though.
Ah yes, the Eric Gagne trade.
You’re the man, David. Enjoy your down time
I love the story about how Murphy’s five-year-old daughter spilled the beans about Murphy’s signing in Cleveland in her preschool class.
mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/indians-notes-murphy-we…
Congratulations on a successful career and best wishes in retirement.
Could be wrong but i believe Murphy was Theo Epsteins first ever draft pick. white sox sure can use his stick.
Scrappy player, sort of twitchy and fun to watch even when he would hit an out pitch into the left field gap. Great player to watch and hate if you’re a Mariner’s fan like myself. I think he had a great career and given the chance earlier in the season he would have found a way to be productive. Stats be damned in this case. Happy retirement.