Guardians Interested In Athletics Catcher And Ohio Resident Sean Murphy
With the Guardians looking for an upgrade behind the plate, a catcher with ties to Ohio could be the answer.
Cleveland is among the most active suitors for Athletics backstop Sean Murphy, according to MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. Morosi added that Oakland could deal Murphy before the Winter Meetings end next week.
Murphy was born in Peekskill, New York, but he went to Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio and Wright State University in Dayton. The 28-year-old still resides in Dayton, according to the A’s media guide.
Murphy’s name has been a popular one in the rumor mill lately, as he wasn’t traded over the last year, unlike several of his former teammates in Oakland. A 2021 Gold Glove winner, he has also posted decent offensive numbers over parts of four big league seasons.
Murphy hit .236/.321/.417 with 60 doubles, 35 home runs, 125 RBI, a 111 OPS+ and 6.2 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference, over the last two seasons. He is coming off his best campaign yet, slashing .250/.332/.426 with 37 doubles, 18 homers, 66 RBI, a 120 OPS+ and 1.4 Wins Above Replacement while seeing a career-high 612 plate appearances.
While Murphy’s numbers don’t jump off the page, catchers hit a collective .228/.295/.368 across the league last year. Cleveland, meanwhile, endured abysmal offensive production from the position in 2022.
Veteran Austin Hedges caught more games (105) for the Guardians than anyone else, but it certainly wasn’t because of his output at the plate. The defensive-minded veteran’s bat was far below average, as Hedges slashed .163/.241/.248 with seven longballs, 30 RBI and a 42 OPS+.
Luke Maile, Sandy Leon, Bo Naylor and Bryan Lavastida also caught for Cleveland in 2022, but only Maile saw notable playing time in the majors. No member of the group impressed offensively.
Hedges and Maile are free agents, making catcher an area of need for the Guardians no matter which side of the ball they want to value at the position.
