Oakland A’s rumors: Could Sean Murphy be on the trading block?
By Kevin Henry
There has been plenty of talk this offseason about what players the Oakland A’s might be willing to move once the Major League Baseball lockout is over. According to one MLB insider, that list could be growing.
Could the Oakland A’s be willing to trade catcher Sean Murphy once the lockout is over?
In a recent article on ESPN+ (subscription required), Kiley McDaniel discusses how the Oakland A’s could very well dismantle their roster after the lockout ends and send players such as Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, and Chris Bassitt to other teams in a flurry of trades. McDaniel also mentions that Oakland might be willing to move catcher Sean Murphy “for the right offer.”
A trade of Murphy is an interesting proposition to consider. After all, the 27-year-old catcher has four years of team control remaining and is coming off a season where he earned a Gold Glove for his defensive work behind the plate. However, as discussed in this article, Oakland is still unsure if Murphy is the long-term answer for them at catcher. The A’s brought in veteran catcher Yan Gomes at the 2021 trade deadline and have prospect backstop options coming up through the ranks, including 2020 first-round draft pick Tyler Soderstrom, who represented the A’s at the 2021 Futures Game at Coors Field in Denver during All-Star festivities.
Many of the questions surrounding Murphy and his future in Oakland come from his ineffectiveness at the plate. In 648 plate appearances for the A’s over three seasons, Murphy is slashing just .222/.321/.431. Last season’s slash line of .216/.306/.405 pulled those numbers down, but he did hit 17 home runs and log 59 RBI. However, he also struck out 114 times in 393 at-bats (29 percent of the time).
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If the A’s are waiting on “the right offer” to move Murphy, it may take more than some teams are willing to give up in exchange for a defense-first catcher. If he stays in Oakland, Murphy could also provide a bridge for the A’s, paired again with another veteran catcher (like Gomes) in 2022 while Oakland’s catching prospects gain more experience in the minor leagues.