The A’s traded catcher Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves as part of their ongoing teardown project, the team confirmed Monday afternoon.
The nine-player, three-team deal, which also included the Milwaukee Brewers, was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The A’s received a bounty of prospects: left-hander Kyle Muller, outfielder Esteury Ruiz and right-hander pitchers Freddy Tarnok and Royber Salinas. as well as veteran catcher Manny Piña, who played just five games for the Braves in 2022 before undergoing season-ending wrist surgery. The Brewers’ big piece to the deal was catcher William Contreras, 24, from Atlanta. The A’s also sent reliever Joel Payamps to Milwaukee.
The key to the deal for the A’s likely is Muller, 25, who entered last season rated as the Braves’ top prospect by MLB.com and Baseball America. He went 6-8 with a 3.41 ERA at Triple-A Gwinnett and went 1-1 with an 8.03 ERA in three starts with Atlanta. The left-hander has gone 3-5 with a 5.14 ERA in 12 career major-league appearances over the past two seasons.
Ruiz, 23, made his major league debut last season with the Brewers after hitting .332 with 16 home runs and 85 stolen bases in the minors in 2022 while playing in the San Diego Padres’ and Brewers’ farm systems. He was part of the package that came to Milwaukee in the deal that sent four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader to San Diego.
Tarnock, 24, made his big league debut in 2022 with the Braves while spending most of the season at Gwinnett and Double-A Mississippi. Salinas, a 21-year-old right-hander, pitched at the Single-A level for the Braves this past season.
In another move, the A’s designated infielder Vimael Machín for assignment.
Murphy, 28, was the American League’s Gold Glove catcher in 2021 and a finalist again last season while being among the A’s most reliable hitters in a historically bad 2022 lineup. The Silver Slugger finalist slashed .250/.332/.426 with 18 home runs and 66 RB last season in 148 games, leading the team in batting average and OPS. Murphy hit 17 home runs with 59 RBI in 2021.
He’ll go from a team expected to again have one of MLB’s worst records to a team trying to contend for a World Series two years after winning the title in 2021. Murphy also will be reunited with former Oakland teammate Matt Olson, who was traded to the Braves last spring and signed an eight-year, $168 million extension with them. In that deal, the A’s got catcher Shae Langeliers, outfielder Cristian Pache and right-handed pitchers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes.
Murphy, a third-round draft pick by Oakland in 2015, was deemed expendable in part because of his team-friendly contract status. He’s scheduled to earn $725,000 this season and is not eligible for salary arbitration until the offseason. The A’s also have significant catching depth; Langeliers made his big league debut last season and figures to at least share time with Piña behind the plate this season. Recent first-round draft picks Tyler Soderstrom and Daniel Susac are also in the system, and the team is high on Kyle McCann.
There was plenty of trade talk surrounding Murphy this offseason, especially during the just-completed winter meetings. When asked how the team might handle the catching position without Murphy, A’s manager Mark Kotsay said, “We saw Shea limited in September in the role behind the plate. I think he has all the ability to step in and be an everyday Major League catcher.”
“I was really impressed with his game planning, his preparation, how he followed Murph and learned from Murph in the time he was there, and not just Murph, but with (Stephen) Vogt. He soaked in a lot of experience in a short amount of time. But I do think if he ends up being here and Murph is not, we’ll have a lot of support for him in terms of game calling, game planning.
“Can he step in and be the everyday guy? I believe he can, yes.”
With Murphy gone, the A’s most appealing trade candidates probably are outfielder Ramón Laureano and pitcher Paul Blackburn.
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