Daniel Murphy to DL, Dilson Herrera Promoted

Late Thursday night the Mets announced that Daniel Murphy would go on the disabled list with a strained right calf and that Dilson Herrera would be promoted to take his place. So perhaps there will be a reason to watch the Mets over the final month of the season after all.

Scouts are raving about the 20-year-old Herrera, who is hitting .323 with 13 home runs and 71 RBIs in SIngle-A and Double-A this season. If he is able to come even close to that kind of production during this audition, it could lead to Murphy being traded in the off-season.

Murphy is due around $9 million in his final year of arbitration. If the Mets can find a capable hitter at the major league minimum, you can bet that they deal Murphy and either spend the money on a power hitting outfielder or just deposit it in Jeff Wilpon’s trust fund.

Murphy picked a bad day to go on the disabled list.

The Mets acquired Dilson Herrera a year and two days ago along with Vic Black from the Pirates for Marlon Byrd and John Buck. Black, who is on the disabled list, has already paid dividends. If Herrera can come through now, that would be a very quick payoff for Sandy Alderson.