In an offseason full of acquisitions, Murphy proving to be top choice

Looking back to the offseason, it's difficult to believe that Daniel Murphy was the Nationals' third choice when they were looking for a second baseman.

They wanted to trade for Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips, but, per his contract, Phillips vetoed a trade and wanted to stay with the rebuilding Reds. Who knows why he didn't want to play for his former Reds manager, Dusty Baker, in D.C.?

Phillips, by the way, is hitting .256. Then, the Nationals tried to sign Ben Zobrist, but he did want to play for a former manager, Joe Maddon, and play closer to home. Zobrist and Maddon were together in Tampa Bay. Now, they are Cubs.

So, the Nationals signed Murphy to a three-year, $37.5 million contract. They liked that his steady left-handed bat balanced their lineup. They liked that he was one of the toughest hitters in the NL to strike out. They thought his defense would improve, and that he wouldn't try to do too much running the bases.

But, did they expect what Murphy's doing now? Murphy is piling up multi-hit games and leads the NL with a .394 average, 42 points higher than second-place Ryan Braun of Milwaukee. Murphy has nine home runs and is on his way to beating his career-high of 14 last season with the Mets.

Murphy's on-base percentage is .427. Never mind that he hit .150 and made a couple of costly errors for the Mets in the World Series against Kansas City last October. Obviously, Murphy is the most productive free-agent signing, but there are some other stories as well:

The bargain-basement deal: Ian Desmond, Texas. The Rangers signed the former Nationals shortstop and made him an outfielder. Desmond turned down a $107 million extension from the Nationals and the Rangers took advantage of a soft market and got him for $8 million. ... Desmond has played close to the same number of games in center and left field and has a chance to make the AL All-Star team, hitting .291-7-33 with 10 stolen bases.

His competition for the American League All-Star team in left field includes Cleveland's Jose Ramirez (.315) and Toronto's Michael Saunders (.295, nine home runs). If you compare him to centerfielders, then he's in the mix with Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. (.331 with a .409 on-base percentage), Los Angeles' Mike Trout (.313-.416 with 12 home runs and seven steals) and Kansas City's Lorenzo Cain, who is hitting .305 with a .355 on-base percentage.

The bargain-basement deal, Part II: Mike Napoli, Cleveland. The Indians needed a right-handed power bat and so they signed the 34-year-old first baseman to a $7 million contract after he combined to hit .224 with 18 home runs for Boston and Texas last season. Napoli's hitting .230, but he leads Cleveland with 12 home runs and 38 RBI.

The injury gamble: Denard Span, San Francisco. It took a while for Span to not worry about his surgically-repaired hip, but now that the hip concerns are history, the 32-year-old is running down fly balls with grace, hitting the ball hard and generally doing what leadoff batters are supposed to do: In his first 17 games, Span, who signed for $31 million over three years, had a .310 on-base percentage. It's bumped up to .363. Span is part of what could be the best up-the- middle defense in the National League - with catchers Buster Posey and infielders Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik - that has helped two other free-agent signees by the Giants, starters Johnny Cueto (8-1, 2.31) and Jeff Samardzija (7-3, 2.84).

The shock-the-baseball-world deal: Ian Kennedy, Kansas City. The small-market Royals took a change-of- scenery gamble on a starter that had a 4.28 ERA in 30 starts for San Diego last season. The Royals, who usually trade big-time salaries, thought their defense would help Kennedy, as well as Dave Eiland, his pitching coach from they days he started in the Yankees' system. It worked: Kennedy, who finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting in 2011 for Arizona, had a 3.03 ERA in his first 10 starts.

The quick-sign deal: Jordan Zimmermann, Detroit. Zimmermann, 29, another former National, was the No. 3 starter in last winter's free-agent market behind Zack Greinke and David Price, but he signed his $110 million contract in December, just a few days after the market opened. At the start of spring training, he told the Tigers that he likes to be a workhorse and that his philosophy as a starter is to get the job done, no matter the circumstances. He's doing that. He has seven wins and a 2.52 ERA.

The live-for-now contract: Ben Zobrist, Chicago Cubs. For nine seasons, Zobrist was the super-utility guy in Tampa Bay who played every position for the Rays except pitcher and catcher. Then, he did the same for Oakland and Kansas City, helping the Royals win the 2015 World Series. Now at 35, Zobrist is raking for the Cubs and settled in at one position, second base, although he has played a few games in the outfield.

Zobrist, who signed for four years and $56 million, hit .406 with a .483 on-base percentage during May. His contract looks good, but how is it going to look two years from now? Probably not good, but the Cubs are living in the moment.

The possible opt-out: Yoenis Cespedes, New York. Cespedes signed a three-year, $75 million deal with the Mets, but he can opt-out after the first year. And, given that he's among the league leaders with 15 home runs and 37 RBI, he's likely to do that. Cespedes says the Mets feel like home. We'll see how feels when he's likely to be the top hitter in a thin outfield free-agent market after this season.

"Cespedes has picked up where he left off last season, and he's a valuable bat for our lineup,'' Mets manager Terry Collins says. "He's perfect for our team.''