Daniel Murphy and Paternity Leave (Poll)

Daniel Murphy of the Mets is catching a lot of heat this week for missing three days to be his wife for the birth of their first child.

Longtime New York radio host, Mike Francesca, has been very critical of Murphy. You can read his quotes and listen to what he had to say here.

Murphy left the team on Monday and missed that Opening Day. The Mets didn’t play Tuesday, but he was still not back for the game on Wednesday.

He is expected to play today against the Nationals.

Paternity leave was put into the collective bargaining agreement in 2011 and allows fathers to miss up to three days. The players specifically argued for more than one day. Legally, Murphy did absolutely nothing wrong.

I think the reason this is such an issue is because it’s the opening week of the season. The optimism around the Mets – and every other team – is high, and fans don’t want to see the Mets playing without starters when they feel the games mean something.

If this had been in July, and the Mets were 35-45, it wouldn’t even be a discussion.

What do you think he should have done?