Diamondbacks interested in A's catcher Sean Murphy

The Diamondbacks are the latest team linked to A’s catcher Sean Murphy, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports that the D’Backs and Athletics have had some talks about Murphy’s availability.

Back in October, Arizona general manager Mike Hazen suggested that catcher might be a target area for the D’Backs this winter, as part of the team’s broader plans to improve the offense. Free agent Christian Vazquez is another backstop who has reportedly drawn from interest from the desert, while the D’Backs also made a lower-level depth move in claiming Ali Sanchez off waivers.

As Piecoro notes, the Diamondbacks have a starting catcher already in place in Carson Kelly. However, Kelly has hit a modest .231/.318/.405 over his 1,207 plate appearances and four seasons in Arizona, with a lot of that offense coming back in 2019. Most recently, Kelly hasn’t really been able to get on track at the plate since suffering a wrist fracture in June 2021.

With Daulton Varsho moving from “catcher of the future” to outfielder of the Diamondbacks’ present, the catching depth is suddenly a little thin in Arizona, and acquiring Murphy would soundly resolve that issue. The former All-Star is a solid offensive and defensive performer, and is under team control through the 2025 season. Since the Athletics are firmly in rebuild mode, Murphy has been one of the top trade targets in all of baseball, with essentially every catching-needy team (i.e. the Cardinals, Cubs, White Sox, Guardians, Twins, Rays, Red Sox) all linked to his market. Even the Braves had some interest despite their own catching depth, but they no longer appear to be pursuing Murphy’s services.

This widespread interest has given the A’s plenty of leverage in talks. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Oakland is looking to add major league players rather than prospects in exchange for Murphy, with these big league-ready players presumably being younger and cost-controlled rather than established veterans.

With this asking price in mind, the Diamondbacks could be a particularly good fit for a Murphy trade. There has been plenty of speculation that the D’Backs might trade from their surplus of young outfielders, and while top prospect Corbin Carroll seems untouchable, any of Varsho, Alek Thomas or Jake McCarthy could potentially be shopped to Oakland as part of a trade package.

If the D’Backs did land Murphy, they could themselves enter the catching market by shopping Kelly. Teams who miss out on Murphy could still see Kelly as a possible upgrade, and naturally his trade cost would be far less than the Athletics’ asking price for Murphy. Kelly is arbitration-controlled through the 2024 season, and is projected to earn $4.1M via the arb process in 2023.