Source: Daniel Murphy agrees to a three-year, $37.5M deal with the Nationals
The Washington Nationals have one-upped one of their division rivals.
The Nationals have agreed with free-agent second baseman Daniel Murphy on a three-year, $37.5 million deal, pending a physical, FOX Sports MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal reported Thursday.
#Nationals will lose first-round pick, No. 18 overall, for signing Murphy. #Mets will gain compensation pick between 1st and 2nd rounds.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 24, 2015
Full disclosure: Had heard and reported after Phillips deal collapsed that Murphy was low priority for #Nationals. However, team needed LHH.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 24, 2015
Evidently, that need for a LHH took precedence for #Nationals in choosing Murphy over Kendrick or pursuing another second baseman in trade.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 24, 2015
Drafted by the Mets in 2006, the 30-year-old starred in October when he homered in a record six straight postseason games and was voted the MVP in the Mets' National League Championship Series victory over the Chicago Cubs. But he made key errors in the fourth and fifth games of New York's five-game World Series loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Murphy hit .281 this year with a career-best 14 homers and 73 RBIs. In seven seasons, all with the Mets, he has a .288 average with 62 homers and 402 RBIs.
Murphy became a free agent after the season and rejected the Mets' $15.8 million qualifying offer.
Washington loses its first-round draft pick, the 16th overall, and the Mets gain a compensation-round pick. The Nationals will have compensation-round picks for Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond.
New York already has replaced Murphy with free agent second baseman Neil Walker.
The Nationals had spent much of the offseason being thwarted in pursuit of additions, including attempts to get a second baseman or left-handed hitter.
They failed in bids to sign free agents Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and reliever Darren O'Day, and were unable to finalize a trade to acquire second baseman Brandon Phillips from Cincinnati.
Washington entered last season with World Series aspirations but failed to make the playoffs. The Nationals remade their starting infield, letting Desmond become a free agent and trading away Yunel Escobar. They hired Dusty Baker as manager after firing Matt Williams.
Murphy is not considered a top defender, but the Nationals might be hoping to overcome that with superb fielder Danny Espinosa at shortstop.