Daniel Murphy 2.0 - Adjusting to Adjustments

Daniel Murphy, among others, were interviewed yesterday on WFAN by well-known radio peronality Mike Francesa. I'll tell you what - I've heard Murphy talk before but I really enjoyed listening to his interview. In addition to NOT letting Francesa trick him into saying anything he didn't want to say[1], I was very impressed with the attitude adjustment that I heard from him.

When Murphy burst onto the scene in 2008, many people penciled him in as a starter in 2009. We at Fonzie Forever were not as optimistic[2]. But still, all winter and spring, we heard about Murphy's work ethic, determination, and so on[3].

In yesterday's interview, however, Murphy no longer sounded like this world-beating grinder who would just grind the heck out of any pitcher, ball, or player in his path. Of course, he still sounded determined, which is wonderful. But he also sounded like he had finally embraced the true give-and-take of the major league level - the realities which go beyond making your self the best you can be.

Forget the Platoon, Go With Daniel Murphy

Much has been made in this offseason about Daniel Murphy and the fact that he has traditionally struggled a little bit against lefties. We went on and on at this blog about how great it would be to get a platoon partner like Ryan Garko to pair up with Murphy and inexpensively upgrade the position[1].

However, that ship has sailed - the Mets did not acquire that great platoon partner. As with any good opportunity which is missed, it is time to re-evaluate and move on. At this point, there is almost no benefit to platooning Daniel Murphy, and the Mets would be better off playing him every day.

Ryan Garko and Roster Construction

We at Fonzie Forever have been in favor of bringing Ryan Garko on board here for a few months now. In early December, we pointed out:

Garko has a career .313 average and 887 OPS against left handed pitching - the perfect compliment to Dan Murphy in a platoon at first base. He's not a world-beater in general, being a 28-year-old first baseman with an average bat and average-to-below-average glove, but he has his uses.

More recently, Anthony DeRosa at Hot Foot pointed out that Mets fans on twitter are "almost unanimous" in their support of that move. But here at Fonzie Forever, we have a habit of challenging conventional wisdom. Going a level deeper - does acquiring Ryan Garko make sense?

Tejada at First Base?

Metsblog linked to an article today at Caught Lookin' where the author suggests the Mets take a look at Miguel Tejada to play first base. Before this suggestion gets any steam, let me just say:

NO.

Tejada is a 36 year old former shortstop whose best years are behind him. In his peak, from 2000-2007, he posted an 844 OPS, hit 224 home runs, and won an MVP award. In the last two years, however, he has hit a poor .298/.327/.435.

The author of the article opines:

In no way am I calling for Murphy's job, but I just don't see where he fits in with the Mets plans. They now have a left fielder for the next 4 years, Murphy proved he cannot play second base in Arizona last fall and with Ike Davis on the horizon and Wright at third, there is literally nowhere for him to play. So, maybe it's best to get what you can for him now before it's too late and bring in another bat like Tejada to take his place.

This is a bad idea for several reasons.

1. Murphy is likely to be better than Tejada next year anyway -- Tejada's .298/.327/.435 line is actually WORSE than Murphy's line of .275/.331/.437.

2. Murphy's value is as low now as it could possibly be. It would be the worst time to trade him. I'm not a huge Murphy fan, but he deserves a chance to establish himself.

3. I don't believe that Ike Davis is such a "sure thing" that we can make plans around keeping first base open for him.

4. Even if Tejada was better, he will be vastly more expensive than Murphy, who will make almost the minimum salary.

So hopefully this idea doesn't gain any momentum.