Slugging Matt Murton

[soapy]

Man how I wish he could play CF. That would be fantastic. He's got good speed (though I know that doesn't always translate into covering a lot of ground). I haven't seen what his plans are for winter ball, but I'd absolutely love to see him try CF to see if he can handle it. My guess is no, but that would really be outstanding and would free up some more options for the Cubs in the offseason.

[neely crenshaw]

the problem isn't murton in left. it's the fact that we signed jones in right to be our big bopper. jones has left field stats. 25 bombs and 85 rbi is solid but when that is your big bat in the outfield...that's not good. especially at wrigley

grace was great because we had a 2b who hit 40..back when hitting 30-40 meant something. that's what we need with murton. we need a big bat to balance. if we could dump jones and get a lee type or get soriano at 2b or ajones in cf...we would have a very nice balance. if we are going to be a good offense - we can't have jones as a 5 hitter. 6 maybe...7th ideally.

 

murton should hit 2...he may not add huge power numbers but he may.i also think it's not a stretch to say his average and obp should go up some..which would make him pretty tough at 2. certainly the best option on this current team.

[cubweiser03]

Murton doesnt have the ability to hit 30+ HRs without changing his swing. Its not like he is driving the balls in the gap all time, hes only got 18 doubles. His big, strong, and has quick bat, but his swing is too level to generate HR power. Its hard to hit the ball out of the park consistantly when you swing is finishing below your shoulder blades.

 

Good stat comparisons with Greer and Oneil. I will throw this name in the ring only because he has a very similar swing 'finish' to Murton. Rondell White. Rondell has phenominal bat speed. Its unbelievable. But it is such a ling drive swing he doesnt generate enough lift on the ball to hit the long ball. His HR's were mostly of the line drive he hit it so damn hard type. Even as he got older he didnt start to hit more HRs, its because his swing dynamics prohibited him from hitting that many HRs. Rondell's best season when he played 152 games he hit 28 HRs and 29Dbs.

 

HR/AB

Rondell 27

Murton 30

 

Slg.

Rondell .465

Murton .469 (and Murton has a career .020 BA advantage on Rondell)

 

Murtons has a significant advantage on Rondell in OBP. But i dont see him hitting for anymore power than Rondell (because he sure the hell doesnt have more bat speed and actually finishes lower on his swing than him) unless Murton changes his swing. This would be a huge change he have to undertake. Very rarely do guys change their natural swing that drastically, and its not like Murton isnt successful in the first place.

 

Id be happy with a heathy Greer, Oneil and healthy Rondell in LF.

Edited September 14, 2006 by cubweiser03

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Slg.

Rondell .465

Murton .469 (and Murton has a career .20 BA advantage on Rondell)

 

That's actually not a good thing.

[Soriano12]

Problem with Murton is that he is a white cat...so can he take the heat?

 

Plus he clogs the bases alot.

[cubweiser03]

Slg.

Rondell .465

Murton .469 (and Murton has a career .20 BA advantage on Rondell)

 

That's actually not a good thing.

 

Right. Except i meant to say .020 Stupid decimal places.

[Lefty]

Funny you should talk about Murton because I was just looking at his stats and thinking about his production.

 

Entering tonight he has played 178 games and has 534 AB's -- roughly the equivalent amount of AB's of a full major league season. His line over that period looks like this: .305 avg./.370 obp/.461 slg/.831 ops. He has 18 HR and 71 rbi over that period.

 

I would add, however, that Murton's stats look a little better than they might because he faces a disproportional number of lefties. Last year Ramirez and Lee faced RHPs about 75% of the time. I think Murton is in the low 60s for his career. Not sure about that though.

[fromthestretch]

Funny you should talk about Murton because I was just looking at his stats and thinking about his production.

 

Entering tonight he has played 178 games and has 534 AB's -- roughly the equivalent amount of AB's of a full major league season. His line over that period looks like this: .305 avg./.370 obp/.461 slg/.831 ops. He has 18 HR and 71 rbi over that period.

 

I would add, however, that Murton's stats look a little better than they might because he faces a disproportional number of lefties. Last year Ramirez and Lee faced RHPs about 75% of the time. I think Murton is in the low 60s for his career. Not sure about that though.

 

His AVG is nearly identical against righties and lefites this year. His SLG and OBP are a notch better against lefties though.

[woodchip2153]

Slg.

Rondell .465

Murton .469 (and Murton has a career .20 BA advantage on Rondell)

 

That's actually not a good thing.

 

Right. Except i meant to say .020 Stupid decimal places.

 

I always mess up some mundane detail like that.

[Abe Frohman]

Could you live with this lineup?

 

2B Ryan Theriot

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

RF Carlos Lee

CF Andruw Jones

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

OR maybe....

 

CF Juan Pierre

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

2B Alfonso Soriano

RF Carlos Lee

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

I'd think we'd be back in business offensively.

[goonys evil twin]

Could you live with this lineup?

 

2B Ryan Theriot

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

RF Carlos Lee

CF Andruw Jones

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

OR maybe....

 

CF Juan Pierre

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

2B Alfonso Soriano

RF Carlos Lee

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

I'd think we'd be back in business offensively.

 

Carlos Lee doesn't do much for me. And I think there's no way in heck the Cubs get Lee and Soriano, especially if they're keeping Pierre. But I might be able to live with those lineups. Where are you imagining Jacque ends up?

[WrigleyField 22]

Slg.

Rondell .465

Murton .469 (and Murton has a career .20 BA advantage on Rondell)

 

That's actually not a good thing.

 

Right. Except i meant to say .020 Stupid decimal places.

 

I always mess up some mundane detail like that.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/snetsrak43/bolton.jpg

[Abe Frohman]

Could you live with this lineup?

 

2B Ryan Theriot

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

RF Carlos Lee

CF Andruw Jones

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

OR maybe....

 

CF Juan Pierre

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

2B Alfonso Soriano

RF Carlos Lee

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

I'd think we'd be back in business offensively.

 

Carlos Lee doesn't do much for me. And I think there's no way in heck the Cubs get Lee and Soriano, especially if they're keeping Pierre. But I might be able to live with those lineups. Where are you imagining Jacque ends up?

 

Either Iowa (defensive fundementals) or on the bench. Trade him if you can, but I don't see that happening unless Hendry eats a lot of that salary. He is a solid player, but that was a bone-head signing on Hendry's part. Reeked of desperation, didn't it?

[CubinNY]

Five will get you ten that Hendry trades Murton for someone with the profile of Jeff Francoeur.

[goonys evil twin]

Either Iowa (defensive fundementals) or on the bench. Trade him if you can, but I don't see that happening unless Hendry eats a lot of that salary. He is a solid player, but that was a bone-head signing on Hendry's part. Reeked of desperation, didn't it?

 

He won't be in Iowa, and I doubt the bench as well. You'd have to trade him, which I'd be all for, but I bet Hendry has no interest.

[BigbadB]

Could you live with this lineup?

 

2B Ryan Theriot

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

RF Carlos Lee

CF Andruw Jones

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

OR maybe....

 

CF Juan Pierre

LF Matt Murton

1B Derrek Lee

3B Aramis Ramirez

2B Alfonso Soriano

RF Carlos Lee

CA Michael Barrett

SS Cesar Izturis

 

I'd think we'd be back in business offensively.

 

I'd rather see:

 

Julio Lugo

Mark Loretta

Derrek Lee

JD Drew

Aramis Ramirez

Matt Murton

Felix Pie

Michael Barrett

 

Maybe grab Dave Roberts to start in CF if Pie isn't quite ready. If they went with Roberts, Izturis could bat 8th and take an infield spot, though I'd rather see Lugo, Loretta and Roberts. One other free agent signing of someone like Padilla to start and I think they have a competitive team.

[goonys evil twin]

Five will get you ten that Hendry trades Murton for someone with the profile of Jeff Francoeur.

 

I'd bet Murton gets traded in a package for some veteran help before I'd bet that deal.

 

 

Although his surge might inspire Hendry to keep him.

[daske17]

Five will get you ten that Hendry trades Murton for someone with the profile of Jeff Francoeur.

 

I'd bet Murton gets traded in a package for some veteran help before I'd bet that deal.

 

 

Although his surge might inspire Hendry to keep him.

 

I don't see Murton getting traded at all actually. With all of Hendry's talk about Murton being an integral part of the Nomar trade, and basically telling Dusty "You're playing Murton" by not getting another OF this past off-season, there's a better chance of us going after a Soriano or Andruw Jones than replacing our corners.

 

That's just my opinion.

[macuser2]

I see Murton posting numbers comparable to Rusty Greer.

 

Greer's career line: 305/387/475. That's not bad and I think that is attainable for Murton.

 

At 27-28, Greer posted SLG of 530 and 531 respectively. Murton may be able to do that in his best years as well. Greer's lowest BA was 271 in a year he still posted a 355 OBP. His lowest OBP was 342 in a year in which he struggled with injuries. A few times, Greer exceeded a 400 OBP. I think Murton could follow a similar track, and hopefully without the injuries that hampered Greer.

 

He certainly has a similar appearance to "Rusty". :P

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Jones is due just $5MM in 07 and $4MM in 08. Some team will look at his 25 HR and 75 RBI this year just as Hendry does, see the salary, and be interested in Jones--book it.

 

The question is whether we get a new GM that recognizes the Cubs could and should do a lot better than Jock for a corner OF.

[David]

Slg.

Rondell .465

Murton .469 (and Murton has a career .20 BA advantage on Rondell)

 

That's actually not a good thing.

 

Right. Except i meant to say .020 Stupid decimal places.

 

I always mess up some mundane detail like that.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/snetsrak43/bolton.jpg

 

This is not a mundane detail, Michael!

[Lefty]

I wonder if J. D. Drew's unique contractual situation might make a JJones-JDDrew trade possible.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Murton could fit on this team, if a number of other moves are made.

 

One scenario would be to trade for Andruw Jones to play CF and signing someone like Durham for secondbase.

 

2b Durham

LF Murton

1b Lee

CF Jones

3b Ramirez

RF Jones

C Barrett

SS Isturis

 

It's not a great line-up, but it should be productive enough.

 

If the Cubs keep Pierre around, it creates more problems. In that situation, the Cubs would need to sign Soriano for second to make up for the loss of power in the OF or trade Jones to create an opening for a player with more power.

 

That line-up could be:

 

CF Pierre

LF Murton

1b Lee

3b Ramirez

2b Soriano

RF Jones

C Barrett

SS Izturis

 

That line-up isn't as strong as the above, but it might work ok.

 

Another alternative to Soriano is Jeff Kent. However, penciling in Kent in the place of Soriano makes the line-up better than it currently stands, but not strong enough in my opinion.

 

What if the Cubs went after Kent for 2b, re-signed Pierre, and then pulled off a trade for Tejada. That could shore up things. That line-up would look like this:

 

CF Pierre

LF Murton

1b Lee

3b Ramirez

SS Tejada

2b Kent

RF Jones

C Barrett

 

That's a damn potent line-up! How realistic it is, I don't know. Keeping Pierre and getting Kent wouldn't be the hard part, but it would rest fully on getting Tejada. Taking out Tejada and replacing him with Izturis takes it from a good line-up to a mediocre one at best.

 

I don't think that Murton is the weak link in the OF. He's already more productive than Jones. The Cubs will have to fill CF and 2b in the offseason. With either trades or FA signings, the Cubs could work to fix the line-up without having to trade or bench Murton.

 

If I were Hendry, I'd already be making contacts with Atlanta on Giles and Jones and with Baltimore on Tejada and with Texas on Michael Young. Any of those players would help set the course for the FA signings that would follow.

[Mizzou]

What's Kent's contract situation like? Is he a FA at the end of the year? I've penciled in Ray Durham for my ideal '07 roster, but I hadn't thought of Kent yet.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

What's Kent's contract situation like? Is he a FA at the end of the year? I've penciled in Ray Durham for my ideal '07 roster, but I hadn't thought of Kent yet.

 

It's my understanding that Kent's contract is up. There may be an option that I'm not aware of. He's going to be old, and his slugging has declined, and his defense never was his calling card, but if power is needed in the line-up, Kent could bring a little pop.