In Search For An
Outfielder – Texas Rangers
So far, we have
identified the following outfielders as possible targets for the Mets:
Atlanta – Reed Johnson
Arizona
– A.J. Pollock
Baltimore – Nolan Reimold
Boston
– Jerry Sands
Chicago
Cubs – Brett Jackson
Chicago White Sox - Dayan Viciedo
Cincinnati – Chris Heisey
Cleveland – Thomas Neal -
Colorado – Dexter Fowler
Detroit – none
Houston – J.D. Martinez
Kansas City – none
Los Angeles Angels – Mark Trumbo
Los Angeles Dodgers – Alex Castellanos
Miami Marlins – Gorkys Hernandez
Milwaukee Brewers – Khris Davis
Minnesota Twins – None
Oakland Athletics – Grant Green
New York Yankees – None
Philadelphia Phillies - none
Pittsburgh – Jose Tabata
Seattle – Casper Wells
San Diego – James Darnell
San Francisco –
Gary Brown
St. Louis Cardinals – Shane Robinson
Tampa Bay Rays – Brandon Guyer
We now move on to the
Texas Rangers, who have six (6) outfielders on their 40-man squad:
Engel Beltre – lefty – pre-ARB - AA:
564-AB, .261
Julio Borbon – lefty – ARB1-2014 – AAA: 533-AB, .304
Nelson
Cruz – righty – $10,75mil-2013, FA-2014 – RF
– 585-AB, 24-HR, 90-AB
Craig
Gentry – righty – ARB1-2014 –
MLB, 240-AB, .304 – CF -
Leonys
Martin – lefty – $4.75mil thru 2015 – OF –
MLB, 46-AB -
David
Murphy – lefty – $3.625mil-2013 - FA-2014 – LF
– MLB, 457-AB, 15-HR, 61-RBI, .304 – LF
This is the team that
also owns 3B Michael Olt, who generated all the
chatter this month about being traded and converted to an outfielder. He’s MLB
ready but where is he supposed to play? Are you going to sit down Adrian Beltre?
For now, this
outfield is set, though both Cruz and Murphy will be free agents in a year.
I don’t think the
Mets have the package to get Olt away them, but my guess is Murphy is moveable.
Mets target: David Murphy –
30-yrs old… one year left on his contract… career .285 hitter… career .801 OPS…
This is the kind of
guy you would like to see the Mets work out a 2-3 year deal and settle down one
of the three outfield positions for a few years. Great team ballplayer that
would fit in well. Has mostly played the corners but can play anywhere. Had one
error last year.
8 comments:
Gentry should be the target. Can hit a little and is a speed demon. He's right handed and would cost less in terms of players, too.
How about our D Murphy for their D Murphy? Our D Murphy can be their Michael Young replacement and play 1b/2b/3b/dh for Texas, while their D Murphy can settle in as our everyday RF.
It amazes me how critical everybody is about a guy that is ranked 11th in batting average over the past two seasons in all of baseball.
David Murphy ranked 11th in avg. over the past 2 seasons? Who'da thunk it? You know, his batting stats are slightly skewed due to playing half his games in hitter friendly Arlington, although there isn't a very great disparity between his home/away or lefty/righty splits. I'm not going to disparage Murphy, but I'm not going to get overly excited over him either. He'd be a very serviceable corner outfielder, not much speed, not much pop, batting in the lower third of the order. Another lefty, he'd probably make Duda or Nieuwenhuis superfluous. Oh, and btw, he's projected to get $5.6 million in arbitration this year. Your $3.625 was his salary last year.
Texas might be amenable to trading Murphy for the right package, although I don't really see who would replace him. They're only showing 4 outfielders on their depth chart. Borbon would give them 5, but the other Beltre isn't major league ready at all. They have stated that Craig Gentry and my favorite trade target, Leonys Martin, will platoon in CF. It is unlikely that they would trade Leonys (he said, tears streaming down his cheeks) so Murphy would be the most likely to go, if anyone went. Maybe a package of Duda or Nieuwenhuis, plus Tapia and a lower level prospect would snag him. But frankly, there are several of the other targets we have identified that I would seek out first.
No... it is DANIEL Murphy that is ranked 11th in average over the past 2 seasons
Herb:
You have to REALLY believe in a prospect at the A level to make a trade for him... they simply are so far away and the odds are so much against them.
Now... Gorski and Montero are a notch up
I mention Tapia because he is 4 years younger than Gorski, and has electric stuff, a much higher ceiling. Although Gorski might be a viable lefty out of the bull pen for us this year, I wouldn't mind giving him up instead of Tapia.
Montero is only 1 year older than Tapia, but has thrown 30 fewer innings despite making it to 1 level higher. Honestly, I am reluctant to part with Montero.
Angel Cuan, Yohan Almonte and Gonzalez Germen are also a notch further up than Tapia. Do you think any one of them would be more attractive in a trade?
Herb:
In my opinion, no. I see Cuan as a reliever this year, though
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