Murphy Deserves First Crack

By Jack Flynn
Posted Thursday, May 28, 2009

Daniel Murphy is not a second baseman. It took a few weeks in the Arizona Fall League to confirm that.

Daniel Murphy is not an outfielder. It took a few months in the major leagues to confirm that.

Right now, Daniel Murphy is a first baseman. He only has a few months to prove that he can play that position well enough to remain there, in 2010 and beyond.

Because if Daniel Murphy can’t play first base, he’s not going to be playing for the New York Mets for much longer. There simply isn’t going to be any place for him to play.

So, Mets fans, forget about Nick Johnson of the Washington Nationals. For that matter, forget about going out and trading for any first baseman to pick up the slack in Carlos Delgado’s extended absence. It’s short-sighted, it’s impractical and it simply isn’t what the Mets need right now.

The Mets need to continue taking stock of what they have in Murphy, or else they risk devaluing an asset that they’ve been promoting for nearly a year. Murphy has run out of positions to play in the field, and he’s too young to be converted into a utility player. The first base experiment has to work, or else Murphy is going to have no value to a National League team with championship aspirations.

In the end, Carlos Delgado’s injury may actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise, if Murphy shows even a minimum level of competence at first base while rediscovering the sweet stroke that had Mets fans salivating last summer.

But there cannot be a half-hearted commitment to the Murphy experiment at first base. Mets manager Jerry Manuel has to resist the temptation to give occasional starts at first base to Fernando Tatis, Jeremy Reed and the like. Manuel must write Murphy’s name into the lineup six days a week and play him at first base every time out, until Delgado is ready to return to the lineup or until it is clear that Murphy’s future lies in the American League as a designated hitter.

One way or the other, the Mets have to know.

Looking beyond Murphy’s particular situation for a moment, it’s impractical for the Mets to immediately trade for someone like Johnson anyway. Johnson is a wonderful offensive player when healthy, but he can only play first, which presents an obvious problem when Delgado returns. Both Johnson and Delgado are full-time players who cannot play another position. Throw Murphy back into the equation, and the Mets would be left with three position players who belong at one spot on the field.

Johnson is also owed $5.5 million in 2009, about $1.5 million of which has already been paid by the Nationals. He may be more attractive to the Mets on July 31, especially if it’s clear that Delgado isn’t returning and if Murphy proves that he is not the answer at first base. The $2 million the Mets would save by waiting may be more important to the franchise than anything else.

The truth is, we don’t even know if Mets general manager Omar Minaya would be allowed to add payroll, especially this early in the season. The Mets’ financial situation, Jeff Wilpon’s smug proclamations to the contrary, is a curious one to consider.

It’s generally agreed that Wilpon-backed Sterling Equities lost anywhere from $300 million to $500 million as a result of bad business dealings with a crooked financier. Publicly, ownership put on a brave face, but the franchise’s conservative approach to the payroll after two straight season-ending debacles suggests otherwise.

Even though the Mets opened a new baseball stadium and cashed a $20 million government-backed check for the naming rights to the ballpark, the franchise still chose not to increase payroll from 2008. No matter what excuse ownership gives for this sudden “financial restraint,” it suggests that the Wilpons simply won’t be giving Minaya too much more money to play with.

So get used to the team you have, Mets fans. Help may not be on the way.