It’s true. Daniel Murphy just might be the most untradeable person on the Mets. For reasons that make absolutely no sense. Nobody but the Mets sees him as a long term answer at 2B. Many have argued (Joel Sherman of the New York post comes to mind) that he should be pushed as a super utility player, a “Ben Zobrist” type and not as a 2B. Matthew Cerrone on Metsblog.com today wrote about how he spoke with talent evaluators and they view him that way, or as “throw-in” as part of a bigger trade.

This is crazy.

So why is there a negative stigma around Murphy? Murphy is a legitimate all-star, and has had back to back seasons with an fWAR over 3.0. He’s not going to ever really hit for power, but he can hit doubles and every once in a while he’ll break out and hit 2 homers in a series. He’s a fantastic baserunner even without good speed. He had 23 steals last season and 13 this year. That’s 36 steals on 44 attempts, successful on 81% of his attempts. Nobody would say Murphy is fast, but anything over 80% in the stolen base world is fantastic. According to Fangraphs and BsR (combined baserunning stats like taking an extra base, tagging up, etc. and adding it to Weighted Stolen Base Runs [wSB]), in 2013 Murphy was the 8th best in all of baseball. That’s ahead of much “faster” guys like Adam Jones (9th), and just below Starling Marte (7th). If you combine 2013 and 2014 he ranks 11th overall.

His lack of power might have been a much bigger issue pre-2009, but he is a line drive hitter who can hit lots of doubles. 112 doubles over the past 3 seasons is nothing to sneeze at. The only 2B with more over the same time span are Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia. Only 5 2B have more RBIs (Cano, Phillips, Ian Kinsler, Pedroia and Jason Kipnis). He’ll continue to hit doubles no matter where he goes, a 24.4 LD% is 4th best among 2B in the last 3 seasons. His wRC+ is 10th best among qualified players.

Over the past 3 seasons, Murphy is 10th overall in fWAR with 7.5 among all MLB 2B. He has more fWAR than Brandon Phillips and Aaron Hill over that same span. In 2013 Aaron Hill signed a deal that was worth $35 million over 3 years. Brandon Phillips signed a six year deal worth $72.5 million in 2012. Heck, Dan Uggla got $50 million over 4 years. Why does it seem crazy to sign Murphy to a 3 or 4 year deal worth approximately $12 million per season? Is it because of his perceived lack of defense? If you’ve watched the Mets since Murphy became the everyday 2B, you can see an obvious improvement. During his first full season at 2B in 2012, his UZR was a disastrous -10.2. In 2013 and 2014, it’s nowhere near that, with a -4.9 UZR in 2013 and a -5.3 UZR this year. Yes, absolutely he is a negative fielder at 2B, but not all time bad. He’s about as bad as Aaron Hill, who has a UZR of -9.3 over the last 2 seasons, and Murphy has played about 700 more IP than Hill. His defense isn’t say, Mark Reynolds at 3B bad, or Adam Dunn anywhere bad, but it’s definitely below average. It’s nice to see that he took it seriously and did make a huge improvement from 2012 to 2013.

So what’s the holdup? Is Sandy asking for too much? I looked to try and see who was being offered up in trades involving Murphy, to no avail. I guess he believe he can get more value if he waits for the winter. Am I saying I think Murphy should be traded? Well, Murphy is definitely one of my favorite Mets, but I just don’t think he necessarily fits the Mets for the long term, and I absolutely believe Dilson Herrera is the future. He’s younger, faster and has a much higher ceiling than Murphy does. If the Mets are truly serious about contending in 2015, there might be no better time to flip Murphy when his value might be at his absolute highest. What happens if he struggles early next season, or gets hurt, and Herrera comes in and steals his job? He will have no value then. It’s a painful decision to make, but I think it’s one the Mets need to do.

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