New York Mets Should Consider Trading Daniel Murphy

By Michael Woolfson on October 20, 2014

Daniel Murphy is coming off his first career All-Star season and he was the New York Mets‘ best hitter for much of the 2014 MLB season. Because of this, many might think it is a crazy idea for a team that struggles offensively to trade one of its best bats, but there are a couple of reasons it makes perfect sense.

The first reason is that Murphy is a very bad defensive second basemen. While Murphy brings a lot to the table as a hitter, he is a liability in the field. He really doesn’t have a position, and would probably be better served as a designated hitter for an American League team. The Mets put him at second base a few years ago because they had a hole there, and they figured his offensive production would outweigh his defensive shortcomings. That was the case again in 2014, but the Mets are a team that want to rely on pitching and defense. Murphy finished third-to-last among qualifying second basemen in defensive runs saved last year, and that just won’t cut it with the pitching staff the Mets will presumably trot out there next year.

Another reason trading Murphy makes sense is that the Mets have several young players that are ready to take his place, and all of these players will cost the team much less in salary this upcoming season. The replacement second baseman could be someone like Wilmer Flores, Dilson Herrera, or Matt Reynolds. All of these guys are ready for a full MLB season, and Flores has shown he can produce in the pros. Herrera is a top prospect who has gotten better every year, and Reynolds is coming off of a season in which he hit .343 in the minors.

Murphy is eligible for arbitration one more time this offseason, and his salary could go all the way up to about eight or nine million next season. He is coming off a season in which he made $5.7 million, which will clearly only go way up after his breakout season. The other options that were named earlier would only be making the league minimum next year of about $500 000, which would leave the Mets room to sign other free agents or make trades to bring in more salary.

The Mets have holes at shortstop and in the corner outfield spot. Trading Murphy would free up more room to fill those holes, and based on the other options the Mets have for second, base they really wouldn’t be losing much there.

The Mets shouldn’t trade Murphy away just because though. He has value, especially to an AL team, and holding on to him is fine. But if they get a solid offer for him, they should jump all over it because it makes all of the sense in the world for them in 2015.