New York Mets Extend Qualifying Offer To Second Baseman Daniel Murphy

Murphy has seven days to accept or decline the Mets’ one-year offer for $15.8 million. The 30-year-old Murphy had a.281/.322/.449 slash line this season with a career-high 14 homers and 73 RBIs.

Murphy, 30, was the MVP of the Mets’ NL Championship Series victory over the Cubs, but batted only.

Among the free-agent possibilities is Ben Zobrist, a player with whom Mets officials have always been enamored.

Herrera is already a better defensive player than Murphy with more range and the ability to turn a good double play.

In the 2015 postseason, Murphy became a hero with seven homers and an MLB-record six straight games with a home run to help lead the Mets to the World Series, which they lost at the hands of the Kansas City Royals.

Second baseman Chase Utley, whose option was worth $11 million, gets a $2 million buyout that Philadelphia agreed to cover as part of the August trade.

Though the power Murphy displayed in the playoffs exceeded what he has produced thus far in his career, Mets assistant general manager John Ricco previously said the postseason success has to be factored into any decision. Murphy struck out just 38 times in 538 plate appearances this season, and has been one of the team’s more consistent hitters in recent years.

If a team made a qualifying offer to a player who signs a major league contract with another club before the June amateur draft, his former club would receive a draft pick as compensation at the end of the first round.

BRIEFS: Catcher Anthony Recker and infielder Wilfredo Tovar were outrighted to Class AAA Las Vegas.