More trade rumors....we've got a month of them to come.
Our friends at MLB Daily Dish tell us that the Blue Jays (and the Giants) are interested in Mets' second basemen Daniel Murphy and that the Jays had a scout at the Mets an Marlins games on the weekend. As they point out:
Murphy, who is making $5.7 million this year, is on pace for the best season of his career. In 340 plate appearances, the 29-year-old is hitting .298/.353/.417 with a 120 OPS+, 119 wRC+, .339 wOBA, and 2.2 WAR. He is currently pacing the National League with 92 hits, and is on pace to score 100 runs and steal 23 bases as well. He is eligible for free agency following next season.
By the way, isn't that a great paragraph, it tells you almost everything you'd want to know about Murphy, other than his defense (FanGraphs has him at a 1.5 UZR/150 this year), if you were considering trading for the guy.
We knew all off-season that we needed a second baseman and did little about it. As much as I love watching Munenori Kawasaki play, and I do believe there is a value in being reminded that baseball is a spectator sport and is meant to be entertaining, Muni is hitting all of .200 at the moment. Our second basemen as a group are hitting .235/.296/.368, not exactly All-Star type numbers.
The other nice part about trading for Murphy is it would put Brett Lawrie back at third base (when he returns from the DL), as much as he didn't look bad at the keystone position, for at least the rest of the season. I think Murphy would fit nicely in the 2nd spot in the batting order, allowing us to move Melky down. I really like the idea. Of course the Mets would likely want Sanchez, Pompey and/or Norris in the deal.
Anyway another guy to think about.