Daniel Murphy heads to the Nationals

Daniel Murphy agreed a three-year contract with the Washington Nationals on Thursday, ESPN’s Jim Bowden reports. The Mets will gain a compensation pick between the first and second rounds. But a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for Brandon Phillips fell through and they fell short, along with the Mets, in pursuit of Ben Zobrist, who signed a four-year, $56-million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Anticipating the loss of the 2015 NLCS MVP, the Mets acquired Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman, Neil Walker in exchange for Jon Niese.

Murphy, a 13th-round pick in the 2006 Draft, etched his name into Mets lore this past postseason by homering in an Major League Baseball record six straight postseason games. The acquisition of Murphy will bring a second left-handed bat to a lineup that previously only had Bryce Harper hitting from that side of the plate.

If he can do the same in Washington, Nationals fans will be thrilled with their new second baseman. He hit. 281 with 38 doubles, 14 homers and 73 RBIs in 499 regular-season at-bats.

As Murphy leaves for another team, it’s now just a matter of time until Cespedes signs elsewhere and the Mets are without their No. 3 and No. 4 hitters from the postseason.

That other team ended up being none other than the Mets’ biggest NL East rival.

The deal will become official once Murphy passes his physical.