I May Be Wrong, But… Daniel Murphy, Johan Santana, Winter Stats

Buster Olney commented on his sub-only blog that there still is some interest out there in securing the services of Daniel Murphy ... as a first baseman.

I have no trouble selling Murph because, frankly, he wouldn't be part of my 2014 team. Ike Davis would remain as my first baseman and Reese Havens, followed by Phillip Evans, become my second basemen of the future.

Fans would demand an immediate return for Murphy, but I would continue to build for the future by demanding a high-level prospect catcher, third baseman or center fielder. That's what the Mets will need in the future.

Make no mistake about it. David Wright will be traded by Sandy Alderson before he departs for the MLB home office, and prospect Zach Lutz won't be enough to fill his shoes.

photo by Mack Ade

• Sandy Alderson had another press conference on Thursday and said that he "expects" pitcher Johan Santana to be ready for spring training. He went on to say that "it's going to be answered in spring training, not beforehand."

God, this is great Sandy-speak for "how in the fuck am I supposed to know if he can hit his velo marks?" He didn't last year when he was supposedly cleared. Santana went to Savannah for a rehab game and was scheduled to pitch a game in Queens before the season ended, but couldn't touch 90.

Give the guy two spring training games and then tell me he's up to par. Until then, in my book, he's John Maine.

• Every Met writer has too much time on their hands right now. We're all trying to come up with some new angle to write about so our "hit" count stays up. Some of us have chosen to quote statistics from the various fall and winter leagues that have been going on during this off-season. This may not the best of ideas.

A considerable percentage of these leagues are players that currently have no professional affiliation.

Let's take a closer look at one of these leagues, let's say the Mexican version that went on throughout November and December. Your top five hitters in this league are Sandy Madera (.366), Kraig Binick (.354), Luis Cruz (.340), Jorge Vasquez (.330) and Maxwell Leon (.318).

Not exactly household names here. Well, three of these dudes aren't even a member of a minor league team. Look. Two of these teams (Navojoa and Culiacan) are in the midst of a playoff series as you read this. Well, Navojoa only has only one ballplayer on their entire roster currently a member of an MLB organization.

These aren't stats worth reading, no less quoting. What's more important here is what new position is being played or whether a pitcher is starting, coming out of the pen or closing.

Good stuff, but far from real stuff.

•  So, David Rubin and I were right.

We've both run a bunch of businesses in our lives and we've "done the numbers" on the Mets and it was obvious to us that they were under water.

The problem is neither one of us had the balls to write about it.

I tend to write ahead and the funny part is the fact that I'm writing this on Thursday night, right after the announcement that the Mets are looking into the possibility of going bankrupt. The real funny part is an earlier "I May Be Wrong, But..." is scheduled to post tomorrow which I speculated that it could be possible that the runner-ups in the LAD bankrupcy sale might be a good list for Bud Seliq to look at for the Mets.

Now, no one's going to think I was that smart.

Says a lot for posting what you immediately write.