Murphy would 'love' to stay with Angels, but that might not happen
The Los Angeles Angels' acquisition of David Murphy from the Cleveland Indians in a pre-July 31 deal has paid off relatively well.
After hitting a three-run home run against Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez on Tuesday night, a hit that directly led to the Halos picking up a big win, Murphy is slashing .263/.282/.412 since heading to So*Cal.
His contract has a club option for 2016 at $7 million, and while the Angels would no doubt be interested in bringing him back, MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez explained why that might not be especially easy for the team.
As Gonzalez detailed, the Halos have a ton of money tied into pre-existing contracts for next season: Eight players' salaries already make up about $130 million of the budget. The MLB luxury tax threshold sits at $189 million, so there may be little room for Murphy and his $7 million.
Murphy stressed to Gonzalez that he wouldn't mind staying, but he's fully aware of the situation: "I would love to be here, but I'm not going to stress about it. I know what's supposed to happen will happen. I have no control over it. All I control is going out there and playing the best that I possibly can."
The outfielder will turn 34 next month, but he told Gonzalez he doesn't care about free agency or any of the stipulations that go along with it. He only has one thing in mind: "I'm at the point in my career where I just want to win. I don't care about free agency; I don't care about contracts and money. I'm fortunate to have gotten where I've gotten in my career, have made the money that I've made. Hopefully I'm going to continue going on playing until somebody tells me that I can't anymore. But I don't really look at the rest of my career in terms of contracts or money. I want to win. I've been to two World Series, I've lost them both."
