Murphy pushing Castillo out at 2B

Whats not to like about Daniel Murphy, the gritty hardnosed player has shown patience and ability at the plate. In his first 79 ABs he's hitting .359 with two home runs and 13 RBIs. He's a bit of an adventure playing out of position in the outfield but so far his offense has out weighed the defensive errors ( although, that double error the other night was brutal ).

The question then becomes do the Mets believe in this guy, who isn't even on most 10 ten prospect list and projects to be a super-sub bench type player enough to operate as if he's a starter next year. After the season Murph will play in the Arizona Fall league but he won't be working on his corner outfield skills instead he will return to 2B. Signed as a 3B his hands and footwork aren't very good ( reports indicate) with David Wright on the team he volunteered to move to 2B. The club approved the move and were happy with the early returns before he was promoted.......

Castillo is still owed 18mm over three years; they're not cutting that kind of money, to trade him they'd have to eat a huge amount but they could look for an insurance settlement due to injury. Otherwise, he could become a very expensive bench player. I've been a big supporter of a healthy Castillo returning but even I have to admit seeing him limp around the field yesterday after all that time off was frustrating.....

Moving Murphy to 2B, the Mets could pick-up the option on Delgado and make Nick Evans his caddy next year with eyes towards 2010. If they think F-Mart needs another year they could then focus on a true power hitting left fielder this off-season....

The rookie who has hit like a veteran, Daniel Murphy, will play in the Arizona Fall League after the season. But it's not that he'll play, it's where he'll play. The natural third baseman-turned-left fielder expects to play second base in Arizona - signaling a possible end to the Luis Castillo era in 2009. source Lo Hud Journal