» Jeff Marte

At this point the Mets Rotation breaks down as follows:

I would just like to point out that our RP, Sean Green who has pitched 7.1 innings, has 10 K, which is only 1 less than John Maine in 8.1 less innings, and only 5 less K’s than Oliver Perez in 7.2 less innings. I think it’s very safe to say that are rotation as a whole is extremely inconsistent. If the Mets somehow make the playoffs with this team/rotation, I truly believe Johan Santana (if he stays healthy of course) needs to be considered as a MVP candidate. I can’t think of any team needing one player more. If the Cards make it, Pujols is fantastic, but so is Ludwick; Carpenter when healthy is great as is Wainwright. If the Cubs make it, they have a great rotation (Harden, Lilly, Zambrano, Dempster, Heilman haha just kidding) and multiple good hitters (Soriano, DLee, Aramis). If the Phillies make it they have Hamels with at least Myers and Moyer and Utely, Howard, Rollins +. If the Dodgers make it, they have Manny, Ethier, Kemp, Billingsley, but also Kershaw and Kuroda. I know if the Marlins make it they’ll, have Hanley to thank, but they also have Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco +. Same with the Braves (Lowe, Vazquez, Chipper, McCann). I know the Mets have multiple good offensive hitters in Wright, Reyes, Delgado, Beltran, maybe Murphy, but they obviously have only one consistent SP in Johan Santana. I’ll tell you right now, if the Mets make it somehow into the playoffs with this exact team, Johan Santana will or at least should be the 2009 NL MVP. With that said, I think the Mets 100% need to pull of a All-Star Break/Deadline Starting Pitching Trade. We need to look at Jake Peavy/Erik Bedard/Roy Halladay or which ever other SP will be available. Now that we have Daniel Murphy for LF, we can trade Fernando Martinez(of). We can also trade our top ss prospect (Wilmer Flores/Reese Havens), our top 3b prospect (Jeff Marte), since we have Wright/3b and Reyes/ss locked in, and obviously we’ll need to give up our top P prospect (Jon Niese/Brad Holt) in order to land one of these starters. Feel free to comment/suggest or alleive my worries, but honestly, no way can the Mets prosper with this current rotation.

Daniel Murphy looks to be a perfect two-hole hitter and a fantasy baseball stat provider. Thus far, in 2009 he’s batting .296 with a .345 obp, including a Home Run in his 3^rd at bat. In 2008, he hit .313, but, considerably more significant was his .397 obp. His offensive approach and surprising patience, will provide Jose Reyes a chance to run and David Wright a chance to drive in someone other than (and in addition to) Jose Reyes. I see Murphy providing the following fantasy line:

93runs-15homeruns-73rbis-6stolen bases-.283avg-.357obp.

I think Daniel Murphy is exactly what the Mets needed in so many different ways. Probably the only way, he’s not extremely needed, is that he hits left-handed, however, this guarantees him hitting 2^nd all year (without any slumps) because the Mets wouldn’t bat Delgado-Murphy-Church-Schneider back to back. I think Reyes(s) Murphy(l) Wright(r) Delgado(l) Beltran(r) Church(l)/Sheffield(r) Shneider(l)/Castro(r) Castillo(s)/Cora(l) is what they will go with all year. Maybe against phenomenal lefties, he could hit toward the bottom of the lineup, but I would say at least 85% of his at bats comes from the 2-hole.

I posted this factor in my first post of the season – NL East Projections/Previews, but I think one of the most important aspects surrounding Daniel Murphy, will be the Met’s ability to trade Fernando Martinez. Maybe they want to keep him for RF, which of course, they should (if he pans out), but I really think we should trade him in addition to one of our top SS prospects (Wilmer Flores/ Reese Havens) and one of our top P prospects (Jon Niese/Brad Holt/Eddie Kunz) for a top notch starter, such as Roy Halladay, Erik Bedard + Jose Lopez, or Jake Peavy. I think Fernando Martinez is expendable because of Murphy; Havens/Flores is expendable because of Reyes; and even our 3b prospect, Jeff Marte is expendable because of Wright. Why not trade these pieces for another starter and 2b while we’re at it:

If they deem Jeff Marte effective, this allows the Mariners to also trade Adrian Beltre(3b), and they then can have a successful fire sale. The Mets lineup and rotation would look as follows:

This trade would not only make the rotation and lineup look significantly better, but the Mets would have Johan Santana – Erik Bedard – Oliver Perez (Lefty-Lefty-Lefty) against the Phillies. I guess I’m subconsciously dwelling on the Phillies, but METS… PLEASE DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE BRAVES – AND MARLINS!!!!!