When casually thinking about David Murphy it seems easy to lump him in with the Justin Smoaks and Chris Davises of the world. He's just another young guy that hasn't lived up to his potential right? After all, he was a first round draft pick for the Red Sox way back in 2003. He failed to flourish in the Red Sox system so the Red Sox traded him away along with two other prospects for the erstwhile Eric Gagne. But Murphy isn't like Smoak and Davis and Gabbard and Saltalamacchia and a half dozen other young players that didn't pan out for the Rangers. Murphy has produced for the Rangers and was rewarded with his first decent contract at the age of 29.Murphy is no longer a youngster or a prospect. He's become a grinder and that is a telling thing about a guy that was once so highly prized coming out of Baylor University that the Red Sox drafted him in the first round. Murphy has hung in there and after 1552 plate appearances in parts of five big league seasons, Murph...
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