Houston Astros: 5 blockbusting free agency moves to make this offseason
By T.A. Mock
Daniel Murphy, DH/1B/2B
Daniel Murphy is one of the best pure hitters in all of baseball and he has been for a long, long time. Murphy really didn’t reach his peak until recently, 2016 was the best year of his career and he was the first runner-up to the NL MVP award. He had a .347 batting average and an amazing .985 OBP.
Murphy began his big league journey in 2008. For the first few years of his career, Murphy was a positionless utility man, and this was before this was valued as highly as it is now. He spent time in the outfield, at third base, at first base, and second base. In 2012, the Mets finally landed on second being the best position for the poor defender and stuck him there to have his bat in the lineup.
Prior to his historic 2016 campaign, Murphy was just a good hitter with not much else to offer. However, the 2015 playoffs revealed a different animal and transformed Murphy into the elite hitter that the league has been privy to the past few years.
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Those 2015 playoffs saw Murphy absolutely blow up. He struggled in the World Series that year but hit over .500 in the NLCS prior to that. He parlayed that into a big deal with the Nationals which has now run out. Murphy finished the 2018 campaign with the Cubs in their quest to return to the World Series.
The Houston Astros need to seriously consider adding Murphy to their roster this offseason. His poor fielding matters less on an AL team and the Astros could use his outstanding, left-handed bat in the middle of their lineup. A plus is he can play three infield spots in a pinch if the Astros needed him to even though he’s not great at any of them.
Another option: Nelson Cruz
Nelson Cruz may actually be a more ideal bat to add to the lineup. He is a near lock for 20-30 home runs and around 100 RBIs. However, he would likely be purely a DH option as his positions in the field are in the outfield where the Astros have a plethora of players. That’s the reason Murphy is the better option, that plus a higher average with slightly inferior power.