Daniel Murphy isn’t close to rejoining the Mets

It’s probably a moot point after Ike Davis was called up yesterday, but Mets general manager Omar Minaya told the New York Post that Daniel Murphy isn’t close to returning from a sprained knee. Minaya declined to reveal whether the Mets plan to keep Davis in the majors for good or potentially send him back to the minors once Murphy is healthy, but did say that Murphy “just started limited baseball activity, just started running.” About two weeks ago Murphy was given a 2-6 week timetable for recovery, but it sounds like he has little chance to return this month. And of course he’s done nothing to suggest that he actually deserves to be handed the starting job back once he does come off the disabled list. Murphy has hit .275/.331/.437 with just 14 homers in 707 plate appearances, which is well below average for a first baseman. Davis is certainly no sure thing to top those numbers right away, but he’s very capable of doing so and my guess is that unless he flops horribly the Mets will welcome Murphy back into at most a part-time role next month.