Daniel Murphy’s career has started to resemble a Greek Tragedy. He wins a job in 2010, but hurts his knee running the bases just days before Opening Day. The organization asks him to play second base in the minors, and he gets ambushed by a runner and blows out his knee. The following year, in the midst of a career season, he injures his other knee and is shelved again. What does the future hold for Murphy?

We know he can hit. A typical Murphy season is one where he hits .300, pops about 10 homers, and drives in 75 runs. Those numbers won’t cut it as a corner infielder or outfielder. It appears Murphy’s career is headed to a crossroads. Can he learn to play second base without putting his body in career threatening danger? If he can, then he could be one of the top offensive players at the position. If Murphy can’t play second, then he becomes a starter at first base for a second division club, Designated Hitter, or perpetual bench player.

The Mets need to be fair to Murphy and give him a position to play in 2012. You can’t continue to stunt his development at second. If he doesn’t learn the position properly he’s eventually going to have his career ended. It’s clear he doesn’t know how to protect himself around the bag. Including yesterday afternoon’s appearance, he’s had only 42 appearances at second. Not exactly a ton of experience.

It wasn’t his fault that Ike Davis went down for the year. The Mets needed him at first. Now they need to make a decision to give Murphy a full season at second, or move away from the idea totally. If not, the next tragedy won’t be Murphy out for another season. It will be Murphy’s career ending because of another hard slide.

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Tim Bontemps of the NY Post “Beating the Bushes” column appeared on yesterday’s podcast (download and he comes on 20 minutes in). We talked about Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Manny Banuelos, and Jesus Montero.

Bontemps has watched him extensively throughout his minor league career, and told us “he’s yet to find a scout that believes he can catch.” Basically you have a full time Designated Hitter on your hands.

He’s produced a .929 OPS against LHP in the minors, so why not bring him up to platoon at the DH with Eric Chavez?

Bringing up Montero before September is unlikely to happen. First, a roster move has to be made when Alex Rodriguez returns from the DL. Are the Yankees prepared to release Jorge Posada? They could designate Cory Wade or Luis Ayala, but it’s likely they would lose them if they made such a move. It wouldn’t be smart to give up effective veteran bullpen arms at this point in the season. You could send Ivan Nova back to the minors, but that is patently absurd considering he is one of your better starters.

Would Posada accept a DL stint till the rosters expand on September 1st? It depends on how he wants his career in pinstripes to end. Does he want his release and the opportunity to catch on somewhere else? The one contender that might make sense is San Francisco.

Carlos Beltran went down with a wrist injury yesterday so the need for offense continues. Since the injury to Buster Posey the Giants have relied on Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart. Maybe a change of scenery will help Posada rediscover his stroke. His veteran leadership and postseason experience would fit in well with a Giants team looking to repeat. Their offense has been so anemic that it would be worth a try.

Outside of San Francisco, I don’t see another contending team that has room for Posada. All the American League teams have full time DH’s. If Posada would prefer to be released it might very well be the end unless Brian Sabean decides to give him a call.

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Every year there is a “Is this the End?” column when Mariano Rivera struggles. Usually it’s early in the season when his velocity is down, and Rivera is finding himself out of Spring Training.

Last season, Rivera blew just five saves. After yesterdays blown save in Fenway he has 5 in 2011. That puts him in the top five in the American League.

It’s nothing to be worried about, just an observation.

I will say the Red Sox did not look like a team that feared the “Sandman” last night. That is something that will come into play if these two teams meet in the ALCS.

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Jose Reyes‘s ability to get a long term contract continues to take a hit as the season goes on. Sandy Alderson actually looked annoyed when talking about Reyes’s injury with reporters after the game. He said something to the effect that it’s “a mild strain, but the last time it was like that he was out for three weeks.”

No doubt Reyes’s recent lack of durability is going to be part of any contract negotiations. I still think a 5 year/$90 to $100 million dollar deal with a vesting option is the ceiling for Reyes. What team will offer him a 7 or 8 year deal? The two logical candidates are always Boston and the Yankees. With the Red Sox it would depend on how a long term deal would impact the luxury tax. The Yankees already stated they aren’t interested in Reyes. Anaheim is always a concern, but rumors indicate that Arte Moreno may not want to wildly spend like in prior years. The team to watch is Washington, but how is that 7 year deal to Jayson Werth working out?

As important as Reyes is to the Mets, I am not sure giving him a 7 year deal is an intelligent business decision. Clearly, the legs are an issue that could hold him back for a couple of weeks every year. That’s not the end of the world, but how will those legs react as he reaches age 33, 34, and 35 of the contract.

Again, I predict the Mets sign Reyes to a five year deal with a vesting option for a sixth, somewhere in the neighborhood of $110 to $120 million dollars. The Mets can’t afford to not take the risk. Other teams don’t have such emotional ties to Reyes.

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Dave Lennon reports that it won’t be an offseason of wild spending for the Mets. Outside of trying to re-sign Jose Reyes they will look for bullpen help. The entire starting rotation should be back. Chris Capuano is a free agent they will probably attempt to bring back since he still will be cost effective.

Bullpen arms that may come at a reasonable cost this offseason include RH Rafael Betancourt, Todd Coffey, Juan Cruz, and Michael Wuertz.

On the LH side, the Mets should seriously consider bringing Tim Byrdak back, but if they don’t George Sherrill, Arthur Rhodes, former Met Darren Oliver, and Javier Lopez will be free agents.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Boston Red Sox, Daniel Murphy, Jesus Montero, Jorge Posada, Jose Reyes, Los Angeles Angels, Mariano Rivera, New York Mets, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals