It's good to see some young talent from the farm system for a change. Hopefully it will amount to a team with more enthusiasm and fewer chronic injury problems.

When the Coupons dump Wright's salary at the deadline in 2012 (which they most likely will) the one good thing to come out of that bad thing might be Murphy getting a chance to play and grow at his natural position.

His work ethic and drive will elevate his game and I can see him becoming a classical Met hero: devout, good-natured, humble, kind to his teammates, but with a ferocious drive to win once he's between the lines.

With shorter walls, look for his slugging to increase.

This'll be one of the few things worth watching in 2012.

It shows anything is possible if you work hard enough.

He's the one Met you want up when the game is on the line. I had the second comment here going on six years ago. My opinion of him as a ballplayer was high then and has kept rising since.

1) Murphy's salary began to approach market level

2) The Wilpons began trying to dump his salary every off-season and trading deadline

3) The announcers who work for the Wilpons became noticeably more critical of Murphy in a probable effort to turn the fans against him

I don't think these three things are coincidence. When the Wilpons part ways with a player they don't want to pay trying to make him look bad is usually part of the process.

It's no surprise Murphy has proven the best clutch player in Mets history. That's the kind of player he is. If the organization had gotten their wish and dumped his salary they'd be out of the post-season already. Murphy is a winner and the Wilpons and their stooges are losers.

Anyway, in the NLCS he had a series that would have made Babe Ruth envious. Still, as we all know his defense limitations came up in the World Series. Yet to me and as mentioned before by the fans he strikes me as the type of guy who would be humbled by that and step up his game even more.

Regardless Daniel I wish you well in your future endeavors. May we all channel that inner murph in life.

Think about it.

The second memory is him starting in left field in 2009 and dropping a routine fly ball off the bat of Cody Ross that cost Johan Santana a win. I remember Johan was pissed and pulled a bit of a "Dave Stieb" on him. I thought that play happened on opening day but it was actually on April 12, 2009, Santana's second start of the season and that dropped fly ball led to a 2-1 loss to the Marlins, dropping the Mets to 3-3 on the season.

Besides that dropped fly ball (and turning into Stan Musial for 10 days in 2015), what I really remember is talking about him at a game with my friend Jason in 2010. I remember saying something like, "Sucks Murphy got hurt; hope he can come back soon." By the way, he'd torn his MCL on June 2nd, 2010, while playing for the Buffalo Bisons. We talked about how he's a gamer for learning to play second just in order to get into the Mets lineup, since he was blocked by David Wright at his natural position and by Ike Davis at first. Also, while our hopes for 2008 1st round draft pick Reese Havens (a power hitting second baseman) were still high in the summer of 2010, I distinctly remember thinking that the Mets' lineup could be really strong with Murphy at second.

Even though the Mets couldn't make the dream work in 2015, and even after he jettisoned the Mets and took his Cinderella-like talents to division rival Washington during that offseason, Daniel still ranks as my second favorite Mets second baseman, after Wally Backman. He was sorely missed in 2016 in the way that Ray Knight was missed in 1987. He may not may been the flashiest player on the roster, but he played with grit and determination all the time.

He was solid every single year, never having a bad campaign. He had some speed, he had some power, he could hit for extra bases, he could hit for average. His defense was lacking, but he could technically play multiple positions, which was a plus in its own way.

I remember when he first came up in 2008, hitting .313 in his first stint. Then his sophomore year saw him hit 38 doubles.

I vaguely recall him missing 2010, but I'm not sure why. My gut says it was a knee injury? He didn't let that slow him down in the long run, hitting .320 in his return campaign in 2011. WOW!

2012 to 2014 were more of the same consistency. Then 2015, that power display in the playoffs. Unreal! Totally awesome.

A lot of fans were bummed about him going, but I also, at the time, thought they should move forward. Don't get me wrong, I liked Daniel Murphy for what he was, but there were still too many holes in his game. He was a man without a position and, as stated above, his defense left something to be desired.

Was New York letting him go the best idea? Not immediately, or so it appeared. He tore the cover off the ball his first two years away, developing into a Silver Slugger and a MVP-caliber player.

A lot of those advocating he stay used those seasons to illustrate what the Mets missed out on—"look what he could have done with New York!" But the reality is, he had seven years to do that with New York, and he didn't do it. So perhaps the key to unlocking that Murphy was Murphy getting out of New York.

After those two seasons, he regressed pretty quickly, anyway.

In the long run, though, during those Mets dark years, he was a real bright spot. A face of consistency, while everything was being shuffled around him.

There was an actual discussion about his Hall of Fame merits on one of the message boards I post on. It was actually a pretty spirited debate (nearly 150 replies!). The consensus said he didn't have a chance, while a few said he had "potential." I'd say he did enough to at least merit a spot on the ballot.

Of course, in the Mets Hall of Fame project I run on another website, he was elected with 83.33% of the vote in his first try in a Veterans Committee election.

Also, I like Murphy as a broadcaster. He might have a future in that capacity. Pretty chill dude.