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With too many outfielders and a full 40-man roster, the Rockies have designated corner outfielder Matt Murton for assignment. While no future star, Matt Murton is a nice player who can hit for average, take a walk, avoid strikeouts, hit the ball in the gaps, and play an average to slighly above average corner outfield. A right-handed hitter, he has mashed LHP (career: 306/374/483, 857 OPS) while holding his own against RHP (career: 276/340/412, 752 OPS). Only 27, he is under club control for four more years (although he may qualify for arbitration next year as a Super 2). There is not a lot of upside, but with regular playing time, he could be a league average (~2.0 WAR) player -- maybe a little more with an age 27-29 peak bump -- for near the league minimum. At the very least, he would make a very good fourth outfielder, especially for a team with two left-handed hitters starting in the corners (like say David DeJesus and Mark Teahen). And yes, a right-handed (and cheaper) Mark Teahen is a fair comparison.

This would be a little move, but one that could push the Royals back in a positive direction at little cost.

2 months ago Gopherballs 16 comments 1 recs |

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I posted this last night at Driveline

I"m writing a more full evaluation at the moment

this should be a ‘no-brainer’ for whoever has waiver priority

although this might cost the Royals a chacne to see what Josh Anderson has

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by devil_fingers on Aug 27, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nothing to see

Move along.

by 2X2L on Aug 27, 2009 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Inspired by your title (F.A.T.) at driveline

are you going to call him the Fat Ryan Langerhans?

by Gopherballs on Aug 27, 2009 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its a no brainer...

the Royals love alliteration, especially with the M’s – Mous, Maier, Montgomery, Mitchell…

We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan

by Royal Kingdom on Aug 27, 2009 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

+1

"The life of a (Royals) fan must be lived forward but can only be understood backward" -- Kierkegaard (more or less)

by benfunke on Aug 27, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like him

But I don’t know who we could bump to make room for him. We might lose Roman Colon to another team through waivers! Can’t have that happen.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Aug 27, 2009 1:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah, it's weird

UZr likes him, although the sample size the last couple seasons is really small. WhenI regressed and weighted it, I got him as about +2 in LF. The Fans Scouting Report HATeS him in 2006 and 2007, and when I regressed to that, I got him at about average. Of course, I’d also heard he wsa good defensively.

So, to answer your question, I don’t know.

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.

by devil_fingers on Aug 27, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Josh Anderson?

Desperately hoping for Desperate Measures

by averagegatsby on Aug 27, 2009 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Always heard he was bad defensively

But UZR says otherwise. Thoughts?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/matt-murton-dfa

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Aug 27, 2009 1:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dewan likes him too

+8 runs saved in about ~1500 innings since 2006.

When I pimped Murton previously, I said something to the effect that he does not get any style points. He moves relatively well for a big guy, but still does not look smooth — kind of like how DDJ gets dinged by some for not being speedy or flashy. I think he also had at least one Emil Brown moment with the Cubs when he misplayed a ball spectacularly, which people tend to remember more than the 100 times he caught a ball without incident.

by Gopherballs on Aug 27, 2009 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've struck out the items that make him unwantable for KC Management

While no future star, Matt Murton is a nice player who can hit for ~~average~~, ~~take a walk~~, ~~avoid strikeouts~~, ~~hit the ball in the gaps~~, ~~and play an average to slighly above average corner outfield~~. A ~~right-handed~~ hitter, he has ~~mashed~~ LHP (career: 306/-374-/483, 857 OPS) while holding his own against RHP (career: 276/340/412, 752 OPS). Only 27, he is under club control for four more years (although he may qualify for ~~arbitration~~ next year as a ~~Super 2~~). There is not a lot of upside, but with ~~regular playing time~~, he could be a ~~league average~~ (~2.0 ~~WAR~~) player — maybe a little more with an age 27-29 peak bump ~~- for near the -league minimum~~. At the very least, he would make a very good fourth outfielder, especially for a team with two left-handed hitters starting in the corners (like say David DeJesus and Mark Teahen). And yes, a right-handed (and cheaper) Mark Teahen is a fair comparison.