New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy is the hottest player in baseball. The National League Championship Series MVP has homered in a record six consecutive postseason games and has hit a franchise-record seven homers in these playoffs.
He has not only produced at the plate this postseason (batting .421 with 16 hits and 11 RBIs) while leading the Mets into the World Series, he has gone deep off the likes of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta. He has slugged his way into MLB history, but that might not be enough to play him onto the Mets' 2016 roster. Multiple recent reports indicate what has been expected for some time now: Murphy doesn't factor into the Mets' future plans. While Murphy is certainly playing himself into a big deal somewhere, the Mets believe Dilson Herrera is their second baseman of the future and Wilmer Flores can handle the position in the meantime.
If Murphy does leave the Mets in free agency, he won't be the first pro to change uniforms on the heels of a stellar postseason. Here are 10 of the players from the four major pro sports who switched teams following memorable playoff performances (listed alphabetically):
Carlos Beltran, MLB: Beltran, whose record streak of five consecutive playoff games with a home run was broken by Murphy on Wednesday night, left the Houston Astros after his historic 2004 postseason (.435 batting average and eight home runs) and signed a seven-year, $119 million contract with the Mets. Beltran, whom the Astros had picked up in a June 2004 deal with the Kansas City Royals, has gone on to play for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees. He has been named an All-Star seven times since leaving Houston and has won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers.
Larry Brown, NFL: When Brown first broke into the league as a 12th-round draft pick out of TCU in 1991, several of his Dallas Cowboys teammates said the defensive back's hands were so bad he "couldn't catch a cold." Four years later, he was in the right place at the right time in Super Bowl XXX. His two interceptions off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell helped the Cowboys win their third Super Bowl in four years and made him the unlikely Super Bowl MVP. Brown also had picked off Brett Favre in the Cowboys' NFC Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers. He cashed in one month after the Super Bowl when he signed a five-year, $12.5 million contract with the Oakland Raiders. He would, however, play only 12 games in two years in Oakland before being waived. He returned to Dallas for one season before retiring.
Julius Erving, ABA/NBA: In the 1976 ABA playoffs, Dr. J averaged 34.7 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in leading the New York Nets to the last ABA title. After the NBA-ABA merger in the summer of 1976, the Nets traded Erving to the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the start of the 1976-77 season. Erving would go on to play in 11 NBA All-Star games and win the 1981 NBA MVP award and 1983 NBA championship in Philadelphia.
Wayne Gretzky, NHL: "The Great One" didn't just have a good postseason before he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings following the 1987-88 season; he was coming off an unparalleled nine-year era of success with the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky led Edmonton to the postseason every year he was there, including a stretch of four Stanley Cup championships in his final five seasons with the Oilers. Gretzky won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player eight consecutive seasons in Edmonton. In his final season with the Oilers, he won his second Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP. "The Trade" is still talked about to this day. While Gretzky never won another Stanley Cup, he did help grow the sport of hockey outside of Canada and the Northeast. The NHL is now in the Western cities of Anaheim, San Jose, Phoenix and Denver, all of which did not have teams when Gretzky first landed in Los Angeles.
Desmond Howard, NFL: The 1991 Heisman Trophy winner struggled at the start of his NFL career after being selected fourth overall by the Washington Redskins, but the receiver/returner had his breakout season as a pro with the Packers in 1996. He was named Super Bowl XXXI MVP after recording a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to go along with a Super Bowl-record 90-yard punt return and 244 all-purpose yards. He signed with the Raiders in the offseason but could not rekindle the magic he discovered in Green Bay. He would make the Pro Bowl in 2000 as a kicker returner with the Detroit Lions before retiring after the 2002 season.
Dexter Jackson, NFL: After helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII with two key interceptions and being named the game's MVP, Jackson left in the offseason, signing a five-year, $14 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals in 2003. The deal made him one of the highest-paid safeties in the league, but he didn't pan out with the Cardinals and would end up returning to Tampa Bay a year later.
Ray Knight, MLB: If Murphy leaves after a World Series win for the Mets, he'll be following Knight's footsteps. Knight was the 1986 World Series MVP for the Mets against the Boston Red Sox after scoring the winning run on Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 and hitting the go-ahead home run in Game 7. The veteran infielder then became the first player to join a new team the season after winning the World Series MVP by signing with the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason. Knight played one season in Baltimore and one season in Detroit before retiring in 1988.
Claude Lemieux, NHL: After winning the Conn Smythe Trophy and leading the New Jersey Devils to their first Stanley Cup in 1995, Lemieux was traded before the following season to the Colorado Avalanche. Lemieux ended up winning another Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996, becoming only the 10th player to win back-to-back Cups with different teams. He is still one of only 10 players to win the Stanley Cup with three different teams (he won one with the Montreal Canadiens in 1986).
Jack Morris, MLB: Armed with a resume seemingly worthy of Cooperstown, Morris helped lead the Detroit Tigers to a World Series titles in 1984 and won a second ring with Minnesota Twins in 1991. He was the 1991 Series MVP after winning two games, including an epic 10-inning shutout against the Atlanta Braves in Game 7. Morris then signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and added a third championship in 1992. Morris, who retired in 1994, won more games than any other pitcher in the 1980s.
John Wetteland, MLB: While Mariano Rivera is thought of as the Yankees' closer during their most recent run of World Series titles, Wetteland was the closer in 1996, when the Yankees won their first championship since 1978. Wetteland saved seven of the Yankees' 11 postseason wins in 1996 and earned World Series MVP honors after recording four saves over the Braves. He would sign a four-year, $23 million deal with the Texas Rangers in the offseason as the Yankees handed the closer duties to Rivera, who would become baseball's career saves leader. Wetteland retired after the 2000 season.
