Matt Murton Revisited

[Bruno7481]

Interesting (free) piece on BP about Matt Murton, and other former prospects.

 

In retrospect, Murton couldn’t keep his job for one of three reasons: A) Baseball teams were stupid, B) His managers didn’t like looking at gingers, or C) He really wasn’t all that good to begin with. I know which one I’m picking. Murton’s defensive scouting reports didn’t jibe with what his advanced fielding stats said, and his low-power bat never went beyond barely acceptable in a corner. He may have been better than some big-leaguers, but not by enough to be upset about it.

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/a/17596

[Gingerballs Lives]

He is a great man and citizen.

[El Duderino]

i remember thinking it was a great injustice murton didn't get enough playing time in 07. not sure if that was justified.

[Brian]

This thread made me check in on Adam Greenberg, he's still at it in the independent leagues. Looks like the the guy that hit him was in the same league last year and he went 1-7 against him.

[Formerly Snayke]

This thread made me wonder how in the world Murton, who at least had the ability to hit 10 home runs, is out of baseball and Skip Schumaker is gainfully employed and regularly starting.

[illiniguy]

This thread made me wonder how in the world Murton, who at least had the ability to hit 10 home runs, is out of baseball and Skip Schumaker is gainfully employed and regularly starting.

Pixie dust.

[XZero771679666304]

This thread made me wonder how in the world Murton, who at least had the ability to hit 10 home runs, is out of baseball and Skip Schumaker is gainfully employed and regularly starting.

 

I'd like to have seen what Murton could have done with Schumaker's playing time. He never would have been a star, but I always felt he could have settled in as a .800-.850 OPS player. The poor bastard just never could get consistent ABs.

[mul21]

This thread made me wonder how in the world Murton, who at least had the ability to hit 10 home runs, is out of baseball and Skip Schumaker is gainfully employed and regularly starting.

 

Probably several reasons. Schumaker is a left handed hitter, is a slightly above average CF, has better speed than Murton, has also shown the ability to not be awful at 2B, and is employed by an organization that has shown to be much smarter than the previous Cubs regime could ever have hoped to be. And Schumaker "hits .300" to appease the masses.