Tag: Daniel Murphy

Mets’ Daniel Murphy To Minors After DL

New York Mets Daniel Murphy walks to the dugout against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets beat writers all had posts about Daniel Murphy recovering from his strained knee ligament in Florida, then going to Triple-A Buffalo when he comes off the disabled list. The plan is for Muphy to play first base immediately just to get some at-bats. Then they’re going to work with him on becoming a utility player.

The odd thing is that you don’t see many 25 year-old utility players out there. It’s usually older players that have been around for a while doing that job. I wouldn’t be happy about it if I was Murphy. That really cuts into his earning potential. Utility players are typically the lowest paid players on a team. His long-term earning potential in the Major Leagues is cut significantly by being pigeon-holed as a utility player. I’m sure he seems himself differently than the Mets organization does.

If Murphy comes back to the big’s after transforming himself into a utility player, who’s roster spot is he going to take? Frank Catalanotto and Fernando Tatis would be the obvious players to go. They’ve both been rotting on the Mets bench in April. Catalanotto has 20 at-bats this season and Tatis has 29. Continue reading “Mets’ Daniel Murphy To Minors After DL”

Mets’ Mike Jacobs Designated For Assignment

MLB: Mets vs Rockies APR 14

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets made a roster move to bring in Tobi Stoner from Triple-A Buffalo this afternoon. The surprise is that they designated Mike Jacobs for assignment instead of Raul Valdes. But after a 20 inning marathon last night they could use 13 pitchers on the roster for at least a day.

According to MLBTradeRumors, Jacobs does have an option left. So he could be forced to go to Buffalo. The Mets don’t typically force veterans to the minors though. They’ll probably release Jacobs if he requests it.

The big question is where this leaves the Mets at first base. They can certainly go for a while with Fernando Tatis, but not too long. And they’re certainly not going to go with 13 pitchers on the roster for long. Continue reading “Mets’ Mike Jacobs Designated For Assignment”

Mets Spring Training News: Reyes, Murphy, Jacobs

Today was my second day at Digital Domain Park and there was a ton of news today:

  • Jose Reyes will start the season on the disabled list
  • Daniel Murphy will start the season on the disabled list with a sprained knee
  • Mike Jacobs will make the team and probably start at first base on opening day
  • Chris Carter and Frank Catalonotto are vying for the final roster spot
  • The Mets are setting up the rotation to be Johan Santana, John Maine, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Oliver Perez

That’s a lot to digest. While you’re doing that, I’ll tell you about my day today. I started out watching the morning work out and checking out the player’s cars being shipped back to New York. I got some great pictures of the work out that you can see in the slide show below.

Continue reading “Mets Spring Training News: Reyes, Murphy, Jacobs”

Mets Fans, Ike Davis Disappointed in Cut

Daniel Murphy and Ike Davis
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

For those of us that were dreaming of some offensive production at first base this season, that dream just died a little today. Ike Davis was cut from the major league camp and sent to work out with the minor league players. He’ll start the season at Triple-A Buffalo but it shouldn’t be long before he shows up in Queens.

Davis was asked by reporters if he was holding out hope of making the big league club. From the Daily  News:

“Of course,” he said, “that’s your dream as a baseball player. But it’s not right for right now. Hopefully someday it will be. Just to know that I’m not far behind is pretty comforting. To see your goal is not that far away is pretty cool.”

For those of you that are regular readers, you know how down I’ve been on Daniel Murphy as a full-time first baseman. I’ll be one of a million fans screaming if Murphy is hitting .260 with 2 HR’s at the end of April, and Davis is still tearing it up in Buffalo.

I won’t go crazy about a young guy like Davis starting the season in the minors right now. But if it looks like he’s the Mets’ organization’s best first baseman at the end of April, I’ll be calling for the early hook on Murphy. And I get the feeling that I won’t be the only fan beating the drum for Davis.

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Mets’ Ike Davis is on the Rise

Ike Davis
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

Mets first base prospect Ike Davis is having a big spring. His slash line to date is .500/.560/.909 after having an excellent season in the minors last year. We listed him as one of the five Mets prospects that could have an impact on 2010. It’s a great situation for the Mets to have an heir apparent at first base.

The big question is what the Mets will do with Daniel Murphy when Davis supplants him at first base. That’s “when”, not “if” Davis supplants him. There’s no question in my mind that Davis will be ready to square off against major league pitchers at some point this season. That poses a big problem for Murphy.

Regular readers here know that I don’t think Murphy is a full-time solution at first base. After the 2009 disastrous experiment in left field, it doesn’t look like Murphy is going to crack the lineup anywhere else either. Murphy looks to me like he could make a decent career in the major leagues as a pinch hitter/role player. But I don’t think he can hit enough to play every day and he certainly doesn’t appear to be able to play the field other than the infield corners.

Continue reading “Mets’ Ike Davis is on the Rise”

Video: Review of Mets Catchers, Daniel Murphy, Luis Castillo

This is the second in a series of videos that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. You can see the first video in the series about grading the Mets’ 2010 offseason.

This video is tackling a few tough subjects: the catchers, Luis Castillo, and Daniel Murphy. See what we have to say below and add your comments.

http://blip.tv/play/guougcvaRAI%2Em4v

Video: Mets 2010 Offseason Evaluation

NEW YORK - JANUARY 05: (L-R) General Manager ...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This is a first in a series of videos that I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. We met at McFadden’s in NYC to talk Mets, which is what we all love to do. The subject of this video is grading the offseason moves by the Mets.

As you’ll see, and I’ve written before, the Mets filled their biggest need with Jason Bay. They had a big mess in left field last year with Daniel Murphy and Gary Sheffield, not to mention they had no power. The Mets finished dead last in baseball with 95 home runs. Some may argue that you don’t need a lot of power to win, the Cardinals did it in the 80’s. But the Mets were tied for the league lead in average and led the league in steals. So they had average and speed, even without Jose Reyes, and the Mets’ offense was still awful. They need some power and someone that can play left field. Bay isn’t a great fielder, but he’s a heck of a lot more stable out there than Murphy and Sheffield were.

I’ve also talked to some fans that thought starting pitching was the Mets biggest offseason need. That may be true, but they’re pretty much locked into Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez contractually. The only flexibility they had was to non-tender John Maine and go in another direction. I wouldn’t have minded that move, but he’s still a young guy with decent potential. It’s time to show that potential in 2010 or find another team to ride the disabled list for next season.

Continue reading “Video: Mets 2010 Offseason Evaluation”