Daniel Murphy: The Iron Man of the Mets

Of all the position players originally selected to take the field on Opening Day, only Daniel Murphy has not spent any time injured. Luis Castillo has also been mostly healthy, with the exception of the couple of days from when he fell down the stairs.

Murphy hasn’t exactly put up super or consistent numbers, even with factoring in his platoon status early on.

But the more I watch, the more I want him to be a part of the Mets next year.

Personally, I’d rather spend money on left field and get a power bat that way, and hope Murphy can hold down first base. He looks like can he do it defensively, and he’s shown some skill offensively at times.

I know his batting average is still kind of low, and he doesn’t have the typical power you expect from a first baseman. But if you replace Carlos Delgado’s power with a left fielder and Carlos Beltran and David Wright return to their home-run hitting norms next year, I don’t think the Mets be a team that struggles.

You may argue that the Mets could have used more power this year, even with no injuries, but I’d disagree. While power couldn’t have hurt, I feel like this team’s strength is speed and aggressiveness.

I do not feel Manuel is the best manager for that role, however, and I think he’d be a better manager with a power team. Given the option, and given Manuel’s general ineptitude, I’d rather replace him as the manager than try to remake the team into a power team.

If the Mets need to get at least a left fielder, a catcher, another starter, and a first baseman, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to afford adequate replacements for all of them.

Of Murphy, Angel Pagan, Gary Sheffield, Brian Schneider, Livan Hernandez, or Tim Redding I think it’s pretty clear that Murphy is the player to keep for an everyday role next year.