Braves Land Star Catcher Sean Murphy From Athletics as Part of 3-Way Trade

Sean Murphy with the Oakland Athletics in 2019
Sean Murphy with the Oakland Athletics in 2019. Photo by Trask Smith/UPI/Shutterstock (12423365s)

After the eventful start of MLB’s free agency, it appears that the trade market is also heating up. The Atlanta Braves were the first to make a big splash, acquiring star catcher Sean Murphy from the Oakland Athletics.

The deal that landed Murphy in Atlanta also included the Milwaukee Brewers and saw nine players change teams.

As part of the trade, the Braves sent promising catcher William Contreras and reliever Justin Yeager to the Brewers and pitchers Kyle Muller and Freddy Tarnok, catcher Manny Pina and prospect Royber Salinas to Oakland. Meanwhile, the A’s also received outfielder Esteury Ruiz from Milwaukee while sending reliever Joel Payamps in the opposite way.   

The Oakland Athletics have been stripping down their roster for a while now and made it clear to the teams that Sean Murphy is available for the right price. This got a lot of teams circling, given the fact that Murphy was under control for three more years and is widely considered one of the best catchers in baseball. In the end, the Braves were first to pull the trigger, hoping the former-third round pick could raise their ceiling with his premium defense.

“We definitely gave up a ton,” Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters. “But we got a really good player back. Getting players like that is hard.”

Murphy batted a career-high .250 in 2022 with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs. He has a Gold Glove award on his resume from 2021.