I remember listening to WFAN in August of 2003 and hearing then-General Manager Jim Duquette promise Mets nation that Jason Phillips was untouchable. At the time he was getting his first long look in the big leagues (albeit at age 26) and he looked like a complete hitter. He drove the ball to all fields and was a solid .300 hitter with some pop (and speed that makes Ramon Castro look like Jose Reyes but that’s another story). A disappointing year later he was traded for the great Kaz Ishii.

While he is much younger than Phillips’ 26, could Daniel Murphy be a similar story? I personally don’t think so but right now Murphy is without a position and has only 131 at bats under his belt and has decent trade value. He was exposed a little at the end of the year and maybe we could get some reliable bullpen arms for him.

I guess the question is:

Is Daniel Murphy the next Jason Phillips or is he the lethal combination of Wade Boggs and Robin Ventura that would fit nicely in the number two hole between Reyes and Wright for years to come? He’ll likely be somewhere in between but these are the things Omar must work hard at this off-season. It’s not easy to evaluate the upside of guys like Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy. I personally hope that Omar finds out that Daniel Murphy is the 2B of the future.