A's Don't Come Close to the Reported Asking Price in Sean Murphy Deal
A few days ago the reports were saying that the asking price for Sean Murphy from the St. Louis Cardinals was an NL Rookie of the Year finalist in Brendan Donovan, a solid player in Lars Nootbaar, and the Cardinals' top pitching prospect, Gordon Graceffo.
Today, the A's traded Sean Murphy to the Atlanta Braves for zero top 100 prospects. Zero established big leaguers. They're also taking on the contract of 35-year-old Manny Piña, who is owed $4.5MM next season, one million more than the arbitration estimate for Murphy.
The Sean Murphy trade was too big for just one trade partner to handle. The Milwaukee Brewers joined the fun, and got a backstop for themselves in William Contreras, arguably the second-best player in the deal behind Murphy.
Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok, Esteury Ruiz, Manny Piña, and Royber Salinas are all headed back to the A's in this deal, giving the A's more upper-level pitching depth in Muller and Tanrok, a veteran backup catcher in Piña to help get Shea Langeliers through his first full season, speedster Esteury Ruiz that can play all three outfield spots, and Salinas, who has big strikeout potential as a starter in the lower minors.
This is not the return that most A's fans were hoping for.
Muller is a fringe top-100 prospect according to Baseball America, and is Atlanta's top prospect. He has a 5.14 ERA in 49 career big league innings, and he is still technically a rookie. Muller is still just 25 years old, and he has pitched well in Triple-A. At the moment he's a depth arm in the upper minors, but he could develop into a member of the A's rotation fairly quickly.
Freddy Tanrok is another starter, and made one appearance out of the Atlanta bullpen in 2022, going a scoreless 2/3 of an inning. He had a 4.05 ERA in Triple-A in 106 2/3 innings in 25 games (23 starts) and had a K/9 of 10.5 to go along with a 3.7 BB/9. His fastball sits 95 and MLB Pipeline says that the Braves believe that he's only scratching the surface in terms of harnessing his stuff.
Royber Salinas is a 21-year-old right-hander that can touch 98 that he pairs with a slider that could eventually be a wipeout pitch. In Hi-A, Salinas held a 4.11 ERA in 20 starts, but struck out 123 across 85 1/3 innings. If the A's can work on his command, he could be a nice piece for them down the road.
The A's also traded away reliever Joel Payamps to the Milwaukee Brewers, netting them Esteury Ruiz, a righty batting outfielder than can play all three outfield spots. His calling card is his elite speed. In 114 games last season in the minors, he stole 85 bases, and hit .332 with a .447 OBP. Ruiz will be entering his age 24 season in 2023, and in his 17 big league games in 2022 he hit .171 with a .194 OBP, but struck out just seven times in 36 plate appearances (19.4%).
There is upside in this deal for sure, but this is not the type of established talent that A's fans were expecting, and everyone on social media is completely confused as to how this is the trade that actually made the A's move one of the best catchers in the game in Sean Murphy.