NEW YORK — As the most valuable trade chip possessed by the New York Mets, second baseman Daniel Murphy could spend Thursday — i.e. trade deadline day — fretting and anxiously glancing at his phone.
Or he could enjoy a rare off-day with his family.
“I’m going to be hanging out with my son and my wife,” Murphy said Wednesday, after he hit a three-run homer to help the Mets to an 11-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. “I’ll be fine.”
And come the 4 p.m. deadline, he’ll probably still be a member of the Mets. General manager Sandy Alderson said earlier this week he didn’t expect the Mets to make any moves by Thursday.
And while Murphy may not be a long-term fit for the budget-conscious Mets — he is a free agent after next season — he remains their most consistent hitter, as he proved yet again by going 3-for-5 on Wednesday to raise his average to a team-high .295 and increase his National League-leading hit total to 130.
“He’s an important piece, there’s no doubt about it, to our team,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He’s our leading hitter. He plays a middle of the infield position, which is a difficult position that he’s worked his butt off to be good at. I understand why his name would be out there.”
Collins would prefer to keep his name on the Mets’ lineup card — and so would Murphy, who has been one of the few bright spots during the Mets’ five-season stretch of sub-.500 baseball. Since the start of 2012, Murphy is hitting .290 while playing in 422 out of a possible 432 games.
“If I was a team on the other side that needed a middle infielder, I’d call here too,” Collins said.
“But ‘Murph’ is an important part here and we’re trying to win games here also.”