Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 27, 2008
Matt Murton is Available

The Folks at DRays Bay want him for Tampa Bay. It's absolutely amazing to me that the Cubs can't find a place for this hitter. I expect Billy Beane to swoop in and grab him.

Hat tip, THT.

Update: USS Mariner likes the idea of Murton in Seattle.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:17 AM | Players | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Trust me... as a Cubs fan, I am frustrated too.

The kid can flat out hit.

The problem is that they have mega-millionaires at each corner spot, and "phenom" Pie at CF (though I am not so sure about the phenom part). But really, Murton can't play CF anyway.

It it were up to me, I would have moved Soriano to RF in the offseason and put Murton in LF, and then went and paid/traded for a good SS.

Oh well...

Posted by: dave at March 27, 2008 09:39 AM

When you say flat-out hit, you mean he is the king of the WAG (weak-ass grounder) you are right. Murton would be a perfectly fine hitting 2B, unfortunately the only thing he can play is a bad left field. The only kind of team Murton makes sense for is a team that is getting offense from a non-offensive position, because he simply doesn't offer corner outfield production.

Yes, I am a Cubs fan, and yes I think people like Murton for many the same reasons they like fellow suck-alot, Ryan Theriot.

Posted by: SS at March 27, 2008 12:24 PM

As a Cubs fan I am not at all frustrated.

Frankly there is nothing in Matt's numbers to support the claim that he can "flat out hit." His numbers at the major league level are solid, but quite unspectacular. In fact, they are really quite average. The only area where he excels (or is anything above average) is his ability to get on base.

Frankly, any pluses he provides as a hitter are given back by his other skills on the field.

He is a slow runner and not a particularly good base runner. Worse yet is his defense. In the field, he is average at best (and probably not even that), he has no range and he has a propensity to every once in while *brutally* misplay a ball. His throwing arm is solid but not a plus.

Frankly, I do not understand the passion that some Cubs fans feel for this guy. I just don't see it.

Posted by: Potter at March 27, 2008 12:36 PM

Depends on which way the hurler faces. Against lefties Murton is Murderton, a career .909 OPS. Against righties he's so-so at .771.

This is a well-established split over 900+ plate appearances. Murton is perfect for the short end of a platoon. Also, he's not disgraceful against righties, and I don't know that the Cubs have a boatload of better hitters even against the northpaws.

Posted by: Casey Abell at March 27, 2008 03:06 PM

Cub fan here too.
297/365/455 isn't good enough for Cub fans. Apparently you have to be an all star to be worthy of playing everyday. You can get on base at a 365 clip, sorry, you're slow. You can't hit 30 homers a season, sorry, you are only a platoon hitter.

But its ok to spend $12 million a year on Fukudome even though he'll hit basically the same as Murton will. But lets pay $12 mil for good defense and a left handed bat instead of going out and getting a real SS.

Oh sorry again fellow Cub fans, I know your in love with Ryan Theriot.

Blows my mind the love Theriot gets and the haters Murton gets.

Posted by: Boomer at March 27, 2008 05:18 PM

When you say flat-out hit, you mean he is the king of the WAG (weak-ass grounder) you are right.

You don't hit a 297/365/455 by hitting "weak ass grounders."

the only thing he can play is a bad left field.
...
Frankly, any pluses he provides as a hitter are given back by his other skills on the field.

Well... the numbers say differently, saying that Murton was one of the better defensive LFers in '06.

He is a slow runner

Since when is Murton slow? He doesn't have Pie-like speed, but he has average speed, at worst.

Yes, I am a Cubs fan, and yes I think people like Murton for many the same reasons they like fellow suck-alot, Ryan Theriot.

Well... being that Murton can really hit, and Theriot can't, I am not sure what the comparison is.

Matt Murton has hit, and hit well, at every level he has played at. And when he has gotten consistent playing time at the league level, he has hit well.

Posted by: dave at March 27, 2008 06:11 PM

Can we have him back?


Sincerely,

Theo Epstein

Posted by: Hei Lun Chan at March 27, 2008 08:56 PM

I just cannot believe that Murton a lifetime .300 hitter is not played regularly. The Cubs are losers. I believe they have hurt Murton's career. Now they are trying to wreck Rich Hill buy punishing him in the bullpen. The best thing that can happen is for both of these guys is a trade. They will blossom if played and treated halfway decent.

Posted by: TJleaguer at April 12, 2008 08:18 PM

Well, I have to admit I may have to reconsider my subjective evaluation of Murton's fielding. For what it's worth, Murton is fifth on James' Plus/Minus list for 2005-07, with a +21. Frankly, this does not jib at all with what I have seen. My guess is that he is somewhere in between what I give him credit for and being the fifth best left fielder in baseball.

(James himself can't even bring himself to abide by the numbers, excusing Jeter from being the worst defensive SS even though the numbers suggest he is and by a wide margin, -90 to -64. See page 20 of the 2008 handbook.)

Interestingly, Reed Johnson is fourth on that list, while Soriano is sixth!

I agree with the the complaints about the Cub's inability to address the SS position this off season. Theriot's rotten start has done nothing to change this.

I think it is too early to project what Fukudome's value will be.

Posted by: Potter at April 14, 2008 10:05 AM
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