Yesterday the Colorado Rockies designated outfielder Matt Murton (via Owen Perkins) for assignment, in hopes that he’ll pass through unclaimed, then return to their system in AAA.
Murton, 27, has spent most of his career in the minors, about half of which in AAA. From 2003-2009, his total minors numbers are a solid .309/.383/.459 (.842 OPS).
In three seasons with the Chicago Cubs (2005-2007), Murton put up an impressive line of .296/.365/.455. Matt’s 2008 stats weren’t so pretty, hence his return to AAA, but he’s rebounded (albeit in only 49 plate attempts) in 2009 with a line of .267/.327/.444
Ken Davidoff wonders, in his morning blog post, if the Mets should claim Murton, try him out in September with Franceour in the other corner of the OF, and then decide who they want to go with in 2010. Murton’s pricetag would be much cheaper than risking $4-5 million on Frenchy in 2010.
So what do you guys think? Seems like an intelligent baseball move to me!
By the way, everyone should check out Davidoff’s blog. It’s one of my favorite places to read about the Mets and Yankees, even if I don’t always agree with Ken.
63 comments
dirtysanchez
8/27/2009-10:16am at 10:16 am (UTC -4)
why not…at worst he can be a allstar on our AAA team lol
trs86
8/27/2009-10:24am at 10:24 am (UTC -4)
I think they stole this idea from me. I was all over it last night in the RDDO.
But Murton has been successful in the bigs and very successful in the minors. He is RH and plays a good OF. Why not? He along with Carter provide depth and protection in case the Mets can not upgrade LF or there is another injury.
prismo
8/27/2009-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
Agree. It’s almost a must-claim; seems like a complete no doubter.
But…then why do I have the feeling that the Mets still won’t claim him?
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:37am at 10:37 am (UTC -4)
with the mets luck, Omar will think of it, but the nats (or one of the other 2 teams in front of the mets in the waiver order) will claim him!
He must have a pretty cheap contract, so no reason not to.
steveo
8/27/2009-10:32am at 10:32 am (UTC -4)
Imagine that depth in aaa that alone my friend is why omar the retard won’t do it .It makes to much sense.
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:38am at 10:38 am (UTC -4)
guys like carter and Murton as the depth in AAA is way better than most of the stiffs Omar usually collects down there. at least they are still young enough to potentially have a career in the majors!
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:35am at 10:35 am (UTC -4)
The assumption is that the big “power” upgrade will come in LF. But, say they pull a fast one and pick up a 1B (have to be a trade, given the FA pool). For S&Gs, fielder or A Gon (it’s my fantasy, I can dream big).
Then, they spend the rest of the budget on Lackey (or marquis or millwood if too pricey).
Since money is tight and you can’t have everything, it could work out fine having some version of a murton/carter platoon in LF. Carter also can serve as a BU 1B. C will be makeshift. probably santos + thole if ready or a vet on a ST deal, but not Schnieder!
a lineup of Reyes/castillo/beltran/fielder/wright/francour/(murton-carter)/catcher is certainly competitive. then you have the other LF, Cora type, BU C, murphy guy and pagan on the bench.
you could also take a flyer and go cheaper with Pena for 1B.
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:27am at 10:27 am (UTC -4)
sure claim him. As Bluto once said, don’t cost nuttin.
or at least very little in baseball $$
I have always liked Murton, and was hoping th emets would have gotten him a year or 2 back.
Who knows, maybe he could pull a Werth and have his career blossom late?
If nothing else, he would be a cheap upgrade as a 4th/5th OF.
say in 2010 they keep Francour, and get a new LF. and Beltran can still walk.
having something like pagan and Murton as the bench guys doesn’t look 1/2 bad. Maybe murphy as a LH bat onthe bench that can play 1B, and 3B and OF in a pinch, and a MI BU like cora.
At least Murton (and maybe that Carter dude) you can envision stepping in to play every day for a couple of weeks if a regular hits the DL.
trs86
8/27/2009-10:39am at 10:39 am (UTC -4)
Yeah I agree on Pagan and Murton on the bench. If our bench was Pagan, Murton, Murphy, Cora, Santos I would be quite happy.
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:46am at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
sadly, it is much better than what they are starting most days.
mrose
8/27/2009-10:46am at 10:46 am (UTC -4)
i think its silly to think that he is gonna be a better option than Francouer next year. Yes Frenchy makes more, but he also has more talent and has shown that he can be close to the player of old, which is a MUCH better player than Murton. Its a great option for a bench player, at the least for this year..I say claim him, but to say we’d place him instead of Jeff francouer is silly
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
Remember, you have to think like a team with a tight budget. And a big part of that is weighing $ vs. production.
so, say player F gives you 100pts. of production for 5 mill, but player M gives you 95 pts. for 1 mill.
well, player F is “better”, but player M gives you more bang for the buck.
and the 4 mill difference could mean having lackey instead of Marquis, or millwood instead of livan.
pretty much the same arguement about having 2 superstars and 10 average guys, or 12 above average guys. What get you more wins (IOW, what is a better use of your money)?
trs86
8/27/2009-10:47am at 10:47 am (UTC -4)
See what you guys think. Good enough or not
Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Pena, Wright, Frenchy, Murton/Carter, Santos/veteran
Johan, Marquis/Millwood, Pelfrey, 2 of Perez, Maine, Niese, Nieve, Parnell, Gee
We would be keeping almost all of our prospects and have no new longterm deals.
stickguy
8/27/2009-10:56am at 10:56 am (UTC -4)
basically what I posted above. Yes, that is plenty good enough. Not perfect, but no one else is either. speed and OBP up top, and 5 guys in the middle with some decent pop. even the 8 spot is no longer a black hole.
look at the Dodgers and Cards. tey both have a couple of stiffs in their line ups, and seem to be doing just fine!
You could also move some prospects for a better 1B if fielder or A Gon was available. Or, trade some for an upgrade in the rotation.
and the extra SPs can hit the pen as a long man or set up guy (maine or parnell).
What I also like is all short contracts, no geezers, the minors will be better off, and not a livan or redding in sight.
and you still have THole and Davis in AAA getting ready to replace Pena and the veteran C by 2011.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-11:28am at 11:28 am (UTC -4)
And on that note, Philly took a flyer on some like Werth and Victorino who weren’t superstars by any means and look how that worked out. Plus the chance they took an an aging Ibanez this year who had a great first half, even though he’s tailing off right now.
Don’t need a lineup of all superstars to win. Need real position players though at each position who are solid. Need youth. Even if we need a ‘season veteran’ (translation, aging) for a year until those like Thole are ready, I’m fine with that also, as long as it’s a one year deal, as you pointed out.
And it absolutely goes without saying you need a solid, healthy SP staff. You know, I saw ’69 and that’s how they did it. They didn’t have nowhere near all future HOFs in that lineup. What they had was a solid lineup with a great pitching staff that year.
whataputz
8/27/2009-11:53am at 11:53 am (UTC -4)
That’s incredibly realistic, but it’s not great at all. That rotation is still pretty bad.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-12:22pm at 12:22 pm (UTC -4)
I haven’t figured out just what our rotation IS going to be next year – outside of Johan and Pelf…
prismo
8/27/2009-12:26pm at 12:26 pm (UTC -4)
Ollie.
stickguy
8/27/2009-11:00am at 11:00 am (UTC -4)
the amazing thing is, with this plan, Omar hardly has anything to do this off season to fill all the big holes.
If Carter goes through, it is 1 waiver claim now, a FA signing for a 2nd tier SP, a vet C and BU MI, and a salary dump trade with TB for Pena.
Then pick up 1-2 more spare BP arms (although they probably have enough with the current crop, and left overs from maine/nielve/parnell), and you are pretty much done.
dirtysanchez
8/27/2009-11:04am at 11:04 am (UTC -4)
and amazinly i have 0 faith that omar will be able to pull that off…
trs86
8/27/2009-11:26am at 11:26 am (UTC -4)
Eh, it does not have to be exactly, but I think even Omar can get something like that done. He has before.
dirtysanchez
8/27/2009-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
what did we give up for Pena in that senario?
trs86
8/27/2009-11:24am at 11:24 am (UTC -4)
Beans. Which is what he is worth with that contract. Maybe Murphy who knows. But they will dump him because 10M is a lot to them and they have other options that are cheaper.
dirtysanchez
8/27/2009-11:03am at 11:03 am (UTC -4)
what did we give up for Pena in that senario?
trs86
8/27/2009-10:48am at 10:48 am (UTC -4)
Yeah I am looking for plus one not either or right now. To me Frenchy has a job locked down for next year. We need a LF right now.
tkfj
8/27/2009-11:59am at 11:59 am (UTC -4)
It is the intelligent move, therefore Omar wont make it. Right now we need depth and warm bodies, scour the FA pool and find some decent ones, like Murton. About a <5% chance that we take a flyer on this guy.
saltygary
8/27/2009-12:08pm at 12:08 pm (UTC -4)
On a different note…
Brought my daughter to the pediatrician and he and I are probably the only die hard Met’s fans in the state of NH. We were discussing the injuries and who could be to blame and above else he feels it’s the players and not the doctors or the managements for not interpreting the information better. Especially with the cases of Reyes Beltran and Delgado, the simple fact that their bodies gave out on them and they are not recovering. He is convinced it is steroids (of course take with a grain of salt he is a pediatrician, but a excellent one lol). He is hopeful that once they get the crap out of their system they will be able to rebound but it may still take a while. He thinks Santana was mis-managed (the team needs someones face to generate ticket income) but was positive that he should have a fine rebound if it is really just bone spurs.
Again he is a pediatrician I know, but it was nice to get some perspective from someone that is extremely knowledgeable about how the human body operates. I really try to stay as naive as possible with the steroid issues, but he has a point there are just WAYYY to many injuries to not think they are playing a role.
trs86
8/27/2009-2:43pm at 2:43 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I have a friend that swears that Wright was on roids and that is why he no longer hits HR.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-3:59pm at 3:59 pm (UTC -4)
Naw, not buying that. Not with DWright. He’s been so vocal on that subject as it concerns himself. I’d be very disappointed to learn that was one big, fat lie….
whataputz
8/27/2009-12:38pm at 12:38 pm (UTC -4)
Does anybody know why Carter isn’t playing yet? Also, do you think the other player will be better or worse than Carter? I think this other player has got to have some upside for us to consider this deal a success.
stickguy
8/27/2009-12:53pm at 12:53 pm (UTC -4)
I believe he is still a PTBNL. the name leaked, but I don;t think it is official, so he isnt with the mets yet.
trs86
8/27/2009-2:44pm at 2:44 pm (UTC -4)
Nothing is official yet. Most likely they will wait until September 1st so they don’t have to make a 25 man roster move.
Mr North Jersey
8/27/2009-3:16pm at 3:16 pm (UTC -4)
Deep Breaths, Inhale… Exhale…. Inhale… Exhale…. Inhale… Exhale….
Getting ready for the Off Season. It’s going to be a doozy.
saltygary
8/27/2009-3:37pm at 3:37 pm (UTC -4)
Per ESPN KROD may be next:
As New York Mets fans fret over the fate of ace Johan Santana, closer Francisco Rodriguez may soon join him on the DL.
According to ESPN’s Jayson Stark, opposing scouts and executives are buzzing that the dominant closer is battling an injury after his performance has faltered in recent outings. His first-pitch strike percentage is the lowest among major league closers and has been declining for the past two months.
Mets assistant GM John Ricco maintains that nothing is wrong with K-Rod, but in a season that has seen $88 million of the team’s payroll on the disabled list, another star in the injury ward wouldn’t seem out of place.
stickguy
8/27/2009-3:56pm at 3:56 pm (UTC -4)
just shut him down for the hell of it on 9/1. Give him some extra rest. Just to be safe!
Mr North Jersey
8/27/2009-4:03pm at 4:03 pm (UTC -4)
Jason Stark in same post says the following:
It would be a stretch to say that people in baseball were predicting a Johan Santana elbow injury even before the Mets traded for him 18 months ago. But it’s safe to say that clubs that looked into Santana’s health in 2007, when it became apparent the Twins could deal him, aren’t shocked, either.
“It’s so hard to tell, because you’re never going to get a lot of good medical information on a guy before you trade for him,” said an official of one of those clubs. “But we spent so much time looking at pitch data and video you could see he really stopped throwing his slider in the second half. Again, you’re never going to really know. But there were definitely red flags all over the place.”
Cmon are you kidding me your going to report a story that an official said that after studying video in 2007 they saw that Santana was not worth the risk cause something was wrong. This coming after a 2008 season where he went 16-7 2.53 era and 206 strikeouts with 234.1 IP?
That is the ultimate BS Quote ever designed to do nothing but exonerate teams that didnt get Santana.
And the Krod line where he says:
Meanwhile, opposing scouts and executives have been buzzing that it wouldn’t shock them if Francisco Rodriguez added to the Mets’ DL total. Clearly, something is up with K-Rod. His first-pitch strike percentage (just 49.4 percent, according to fangraphs.com) is the lowest of any closer in baseball. And it’s been on a steady decline for two months.
“Fastball command has been an issue for him for a while,” Ricco said. “But there’s nothing, to my knowledge, that’s physically wrong. If there is something wrong, it’s not something I’m aware of.”
This is what accounts for reporting from Starks? Reporting that it wouldn’t shock scouts?
It brings into question exactly what is Starks doing over at ESPN.
“Wouldn’t shock them”? he reported it wouldn’t shock them, Wow.
Kingman 26
8/27/2009-4:16pm at 4:16 pm (UTC -4)
LOL! ESPN is a joke, and a cross between network news and the Enquirer….
If it is not Brett Favre, steroids, Michael Vick, other crime, Jessica Simpson, or a high school basketball player accepting a nickel from a stranger and losing eligibility for college, they no longer really care about it.
Heyman and Olney make things up, and your above post is pretty damn funny. Yeah, in 2007 everyone knew Johan would get hurt 2 years later.
metsgirl31
8/27/2009-4:23pm at 4:23 pm (UTC -4)
I gave up on ESPN earlier this season when it seems like on a nightly basis the Mets were the butt of all their jokes. The network and all its contributors have zero credibility. Thank heaven for MLB and NFL Networks.
whataputz
8/27/2009-4:26pm at 4:26 pm (UTC -4)
Well to be fair the Mets kind of are a joke.
metsgirl31
8/27/2009-4:30pm at 4:30 pm (UTC -4)
No they are really not a joke. Nothing about this season has been funny. And there are a lot of teams in all sports that one might consider a “joke” in the way they are run but ESPN doesn’t openly make fun of them.
Kingman 26
8/27/2009-4:27pm at 4:27 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, great point….forgot the game when Steve Phillips on a Sunday night basically spent 3+ hours dismantling every single thing about the team, and this was before the season had totally gone to seed….
metsgirl31
8/27/2009-4:28pm at 4:28 pm (UTC -4)
Yup…he’s the ringleader of the unprofessionalism over there.
whataputz
8/27/2009-4:32pm at 4:32 pm (UTC -4)
I’m talking about when they run all the mets bloopers highlights, and stuff like that. It’s kind of funny. I mean c’mon its a bizarre season, and it’s in some ironic way funny. If your older than 7 you realize not to take anything Phillips says seriously.
metsgirl31
8/27/2009-4:39pm at 4:39 pm (UTC -4)
Well you’re kidding yourself if you think ESPN would ever do stuff like that about the Yankees or Red Sox.
whataputz
8/27/2009-4:45pm at 4:45 pm (UTC -4)
When did Mets fans go so soft. And this is not necessarily addressed at you Mets girl, but come on! It’s a terrible crazy season filled with a numerous amount of crazy terrible plays and an inconceivable amount of injuries. Wah ESPN makes fun of us..wah! Phillips got fired by the Mets..ofcourse he’s going to be bitter get over it! I watch it, take it with a grain of salt and move on. So does ESPN have to kiss our feet? Half the people there are probably mets fans!
I know the past years have been rough, but please stop pitying the Mets. We will be fine. We have a solid core to build around, and have a nice payroll. When the going gets tough the tough needs to get going, because if you just sit there and cry about how bad the Mets are, and how sorry everyone should feel for us, you’re going to go mad!
whataputz
8/27/2009-4:48pm at 4:48 pm (UTC -4)
And you’re not going to hear them rip the Sox because they are the class of baseball and the Yankees, because they’re the freakin Yankees! Did you not watch the whole Tony B fiasco! Our freakin director of scouting was challenging the team to a fight without a shirt on! That is the kind of stuff that will get your team ridiculed. Losing on a dropped routine pop up is funny, missing third is ridiculous! It’s a freak year, bring on the circus.
Mr North Jersey
8/27/2009-5:46pm at 5:46 pm (UTC -4)
Hi Putz,
Listen you speak like Starks is reporting a funny skit for Letterman.
I think the Mets deserve all the criticism they get but there is a point where you have to “at the least” provide honest criticism.
What Stark posted in my opinion was an article with no substance that all it was made to do is try and show the Mets were not thorough in their investigating of Santana because 2 years later he has bone spurs and some “so-called official” said that he/she clearly saw red flags.
If it had happened last year I would tend to give it more merit but 2 years later after he threw over 200 innings with 200 k’s and a 2.53 era in 2008? Seriously, I think we are a little more intelligent than that.
Then the Krod story about scouts not being shocked. What is that?
I guess we should report its no shock if Wright turns out he did Roids or that Hamels is hurt or any player that is struggling currently is possibly hurt.
Exactly how is that a legit professional story? I would expect that from Jerry Springer (no offense Jerry).
If he said sources say Krod is hiding a injury. Now that’s a more legitimate story.
The comment of soft Mets fans I don’t know what you want? I guess you want everyone to say Did you see ESPN rip the Mets for the umpteenth time? Wasn’t it hilarious?
The Mets have been a misfortune team that has done mostly everything wrong making themselves look like a joke.
That doesn’t mean as a fan you are supposed to let things go unchallenged when its clear the only purpose it (a story) serves is to kick us when we are down.
At least that’s my one cents worth on it.
whataputz
8/27/2009-7:02pm at 7:02 pm (UTC -4)
I didn’t say one thing about Starks…because frankly I don’t care what he says. I watch SportsCenter with 1 intention and that is to see the highlights of what is going on in the sports world. What makes Starks the authority on baseball..idk, idc.
I’m not defending tarks, but I’m pretty sure the Angels were concerned about his velocity. Now obviously the problem isn’t his velocity, but there had to be a legitimate reason for the angels to not pick up the man who had literally just broke the single season saves record.
Mr North Jersey
8/27/2009-7:40pm at 7:40 pm (UTC -4)
I apologize then I just figured that when you nested your comment in my post discussing the merits of starks and espn aand you discussed how mets fans r soft about what espn says you was talkin about starks also.
Sorry.
as far as the angels having a legitimate reason not to sign krod that argument is always made when a prominent free agent signs elsewhere. Sometimes its just about the money. Doesnt necesarrily have to be that its some mystery injury.
whataputz
8/27/2009-7:43pm at 7:43 pm (UTC -4)
No I just meant that Mets fans in general are going soft. Do you really care what ESPN says? It’s marketed towards 15 year olds with ADD.
Mr North Jersey
8/27/2009-7:59pm at 7:59 pm (UTC -4)
I want to say I don’t care but the fact I posted a comment regarding what starks wrote says that I do.
I don’t even watch espn but the idea of what gets written and reported as reputable can sometimes cause me to say
“OH HELL NO!”
You know what I’m saying?
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-4:45pm at 4:45 pm (UTC -4)
I WISH I could forget that broadcast that night. He just kept ripping on Beltran like Carlos killed his dog or something.
I truly wanted throw something at him that night.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-3:48pm at 3:48 pm (UTC -4)
Boston just released Brad Penny.
Strange year.
stickguy
8/27/2009-3:56pm at 3:56 pm (UTC -4)
Tim Redding: staff ace.
Discuss.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-3:58pm at 3:58 pm (UTC -4)
LOL.
Even stranger, see below. 2 hits at least apiece? Bizzaro world today.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-3:57pm at 3:57 pm (UTC -4)
Game over. Mets win 10-3. Can you believe that the starting 8 all had at least 2 hits a piece? When was the last time that has happened?
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-4:01pm at 4:01 pm (UTC -4)
Minor correct 7 of the 8 hat two hits apiece. The other just one hit.
But…I looked at this lineup prior to the game and just laughed out loud. Just goes to show you, it’s baseball and you never know what could happen.
whataputz
8/27/2009-4:07pm at 4:07 pm (UTC -4)
Does anyone agree with me that Tatis should be brought back next season? I’m not just sayin that based on today, but he’s a good guy to have on the BENCH..note key word= bench. He can play alot of positions and still has some life in his bat.
Mr North Jersey
8/27/2009-4:11pm at 4:11 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t agree I think Tatis is a nice guy that has been good of late but overall has been bad this season. It’s time to say bye and get a better replacement for 2010.
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-4:16pm at 4:16 pm (UTC -4)
Initially, I would have said no. I’m still leaning towards no.
I agree with your assessment of he’s been one player who has certainly given his all the entire year but is nothing but a bench player. It’s true he can play multiple positions. I think he’s the only back up to 3rd we have right now (unless you want to count Murph who started out playing 3rd in AA, although not very well).
Question is if Tatis keeps hitting for the rest of the year, finishes strong, what do you think management will do?
Kingman 26
8/27/2009-4:17pm at 4:17 pm (UTC -4)
Gotta respectfully disagree.
We need youth and more youth.
Tatis has been OK, but would Nick Evans really produce less than Tatis in the same bench role next year?
metsfan4decades
8/27/2009-4:44pm at 4:44 pm (UTC -4)
Besides a decent offensive bat, I believe the way the game is played today, you need bench players who can play multiple positions. That’s what we need to be looking at. MI backup, 1st/3rd backup, spare OFs. Or 1st/OF backup. You get the picture.
I know bench players are bench players b/c they don’t have that bit of talent that would make them first string players but….I don’t want to see the Mets carry someone like Schnieder, with his .180 average and questionable defensive skills.
I’m with you all the way on youth.
dpare71
8/27/2009-7:01pm at 7:01 pm (UTC -4)
I really don’t see any drawbacks in picking up Matt Murton, give him a tryout and let him go if it doesn’t work out. It could pan out.
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