Mack’s Morning Report – 4-25-15 - Daniel Murphy, 2016 Free Agents, Gavin Cecchini

Good morning.

Okay, let’s talk Daniel Murphy.

And I’m not talking about the 2016 version, which we all know will be spent playing for some other team.

Sadly (at least to me), we will say goodbye to our all-star second baseman, probably at the end of the year, regardless of how well he hits this season. Murphy’s had a horrible start, but he still is the best ‘bat’ this team has had over the past five years and my bet he will work his way out of his hitting funk by the end of April.

One real positive sign is the few number of strikeouts he has verses at bats. Actually, he leads the league in the lowest K-AB percentage, an amazing feat since he is hitting so low.

I blame all this on two things… his spring training hamstring pull and his probably masking the fact that he wasn’t fully healed when he came back. Have you ever had a hamstring pull? And, have you ever had a hamstring pull and tried swinging a baseball at a 95mph fastball with your weight planted correctly?

2015 is Murphy’s contract year and I’m sure he felt that the wrong thing to do was spend April on the disabled list. I understand the logic in this, and the last thing he needed to do was add weight to his reputation of being injury prone, but hitting below .200 isn’t going to do wonders for him either.

Is there a solution for this by replacing him with either Danny Muno or Dilson Herrera?

Not really. The Mets are in a real time pennant race right now and guys with proven talent like Murphy are hard to find, especially when two of your top ‘bars (David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud) are on the disabled list.

What you need to do is support this guy. Clap hard when he hits it hard even if it’s right at an opponent player.

He’ll work himself out of this.

Second opinion on Murph - 

12:12

Comment From AN Two part Mets question: What kind of return could be Mets realistically expect back for Dillon Gee; and if Dillson Herrara and Matt Reynolds hit well in the first half would you trade Daniel Murphy at the deadline if you were Alderson? Thanks.

12:12

Dave Cameron: Gee is barely worth his salary, so just shedding the money is a good trade. If you eat the money, maybe you can get a bullpen arm or something.

12:12

Dave Cameron: And it looks like the Mets might be Wild Card contenders, so no to trading Murphy.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/04/2016-mlb-free-agent-power-rankings-2.html posted their opinion as the top ten free agents in 2016. They are, in order:

1.  OF Justin Upton

2.  P David Price

3.  P Johnny Cueto

4.  OF Jason Heyward

5.  SS Ian Desmond

6.  1B Jordan Zimmermann

7. OF  Alex Gordon

8. OF  Yoenis Cespedes

9. P  Zack Greinke

10. P  Jeff Samardzija

The Mets project to have up to $25mil come off the books (in 2016 salary) so there seems to be plenty of money available to go after either Desmond at short or one of these quality outfielders.

The question would be Wilmer Flores’ growth/Desmond defense and the current contracts of Curtis Granderson and Michael Cuddyer.

MLB Trade Rumors had a feature on SS Gavin Cecchini worth reading:

There are a number of qualities within Cecchini’s profile that suggest he actually oughtn’t be regarded as a fringe prospect of any sort. He was selected 12th overall, for example, in the 2012 draft. He was given near slot-value bonus of $2.3 million. He has an older brother who himself is considered a future major leaguer. Despite those qualities, however, Cecchini is absent from McDaniel’s list — and, in fact, has never appeared on any of the preseason lists produced by Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, or MLB.com, either. His omission has likely been the result both of a perceived lack of tools and cosmetically poor slash lines. He recorded nearly as many walk as a strikeouts last year, however, as just a 20-year-old over 271 plate appearances in the High-A Florida State League. He’s improved upon those marks early in his Double-A career, having produced walk and strikeout rates of 8.8% each while also adding a home run.

Mack – I think this is the first time I have ever read someone write the word ‘prospect’ when they talked about Cecchini. I haven’t been that kind about him, or the fact that the Mets drafted him over many other players I thought would have been a better choice (Courtney Hawkins, Lucas Giolito, Michael Wacha), but he is having a better season and we have to remember that he still is only 20-years old.