Sean Murphy traded to Braves in 3-team deal
Backstop swap: Murphy to ATL, Contreras to Crew in 3-way deal
Sean Murphy is the Braves’ new catcher of the future.
Murphy was acquired from the A’s on Monday afternoon as part of a three-team deal that also included the Brewers. To land the highly regarded catcher, the Braves parted ways with All-Star catcher William Contreras and the club’s top-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline), left-handed pitcher Kyle Muller.
“It’s always hard to trade guys away,” Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. “It’s just a rare opportunity to get a premium defensive player at a premium position. We gave up a lot of talented guys that we like. But we look at Sean and how he fits with this core and this group, and it’s a really good fit.”
The Braves paid a steep price to get Murphy, but in return they gained one of the game’s top backstops. The 28-year-old ranked third among all catchers (min. 400 plate appearances) in 2022 with 5.1 fWAR, trailing only the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto (6.5) and Orioles rookie Adley Rutschman (5.3). He slugged .426 with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs for Oakland this year. He finished with a 120 OPS+ on his way to receiving a share of down-ballot votes for the AL MVP Award.
TRADE DETAILS:
A’s get:
OF Esteury Ruiz from Brewers (club's No. 8-ranked prospect)
C Manny Piña from Braves
LHP Kyle Muller from Braves (club's No. 1-ranked prospect)
RHP Freddy Tarnok from Braves (club's No. 6-ranked prospect)
RHP Royber Salinas from Braves (club's No. 18-ranked prospect)
Braves get:
C Sean Murphy from A’s
Brewers get:
C William Contreras from Braves
RHP Joel Payamps from A’s
RHP Justin Yeager from Braves