The Athletics are seeking major leaguers rather than prospects for Sean Murphy, and telling interested clubs they will keep the catcher if they do not receive a satisfactory trade offer.
A’s officials, despite reports of a Murphy trade being close, say no team has separated itself in the discussions. The A’s do not need to move Murphy, 28, for financial reasons — MLB Trade Rumors projects him to earn a relatively low salary, $3.5 million, in arbitration. So, they can wait until they get the value they perceive as fair, as they did last offseason with first baseman Matt Olson and pitcher Frankie Montas.
Murphy has three years of club control remaining. The A’s traded Olson with two years remaining, sending him to the Braves only after the lockout ended and Freddie Freeman signed with the Dodgers. They held Montas until the trade deadline, when he had one-plus years remaining, packaging him with Lou Trivino to the Yankees.
The risk of carrying Murphy into the season is that an injury might diminish his value, the way it arguably did with Montas when he missed time with shoulder trouble in July. But perhaps the A’s are simply waiting for free-agent catchers Willson Contreras and Christian Vázquez to sign, knowing the clubs that miss out will be more motivated to act. Ditto for the Blue Jays, who are open to trading one of their three catchers, Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk or Gabriel Moreno.
• The Rangers, trying to add one more starting pitcher, might be willing to spend big again. On Saturday, one day after signing Jacob deGrom to a five-year, $185 million contract, they met with one of the other top free-agent starters, Carlos Rodón.
It’s unclear how serious the Rangers are about Rodón, but they signed two other Scott Boras free agents, shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien, for a combined $500 million last season. Boras also represents two of the Rangers’ top picks in the 2022 amateur draft, No. 3 overall choice Kumar Rocker and fourth-rounder Brock Porter. By signing Rocker for well below his slot value, they saved enough money in their pool to sign Porter.
Carlos Rodón (Godofredo A. Vásquez / AP Photo)
• The White Sox might be open to trading closer Liam Hendriks, but they are telling teams they will not move shortstop Tim Anderson, who is under club control for two more seasons.
Anderson, 29, is signed for $12.5 million in 2023, and the White Sox hold a $14 million club option on him for 2024. Their decision to hold Anderson reflects their short-term focus, even as they entertain the possibility of moving Hendriks. The White Sox’s willingness to listen to Hendriks is partly due to the strength of their bullpen, and partly because they lack the prospect depth to swing major trades.
Also relating to Anderson: The team’s top prospect, shortstop Colson Montgomery, is not yet ready for majors. Montgomery, the 22nd overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Southridge High in Huntingburg, Ind., likely will start the season at Double A.
• The Dodgers viewed Justin Verlander as an ideal short-term addition, a pitcher who would have made their rotation formidable enough for them to withstand any offense they might lose by mixing in some of their young position players.
Still, for all the Dodgers’ talk of getting younger, it seems unlikely they will open the season with say, Gavin Lux at short, James Outman in center and Miguel Vargas at third, then possibly mix in Michael Busch at second later.
Two agents for other players suspect the Dodgers are in on shortstop Carlos Correa, presuming he would accept a monstrous AAV on a shorter term. But it’s also possible the team could patch with lesser free agents such as third baseman Justin Turner and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. That way, the Dodgers could save the big money for the player they truly want — the biggest free agent in next year’s class, Shohei Ohtani.
• Unless Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick is willing to make a free-agent splash, something he has done at times in the past, it would qualify as an upset if the team emerged as the high bidder for free-agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
The Diamondbacks’ interest in Bogaerts is not necessarily a surprise, considering general manager Mike Hazen was in the Red Sox’s front office for the first four seasons of Bogaerts’ career. But the team finished last season with a $93 million payroll, and its estimated commitments for next season are already $101 million.
That said, Kendrick can be a wild card. He came out of nowhere in free agency when the Diamondbacks signed Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206.5 million contract in Dec. 2015, and again when they signed Madison Bumgarner to a five-year, $85 million deal in Dec. 2019.
If Bogaerts signs with the Diamondbacks, he will likely play shortstop only until top prospect Jordan Lawlar is ready for the majors. Lawlar was the sixth pick of the 2021 draft out of Jesuit Prep in Dallas.
• Gary Sánchez’s agent, Francisco Marquez, has made a presentation to teams pointing out that the catcher’s exit velocities last season compared well to those of Contreras and Vázquez, and that his expected slugging percentage and weighted on-base average were significantly higher than his actual numbers.
“The most important aspect of the 2022 season was that at the end of the season Gary was able to finally and completely shake off the emotional baggage he had acquired during his previous two seasons with the Yankees,” Marquez said. “Whoever gets Gary this offseason will benefit from the rebirth of the Kraken.”
• And finally, veteran general managers who join new clubs often talk about the risk of judging players too quickly before getting a chance to fully evaluate them. A case in point occurred in Dec. 2014, after AJ Preller joined the Padres from the Rangers.
Within a span of two days, Preller traded Zach Eflin to the Dodgers as part of a five-player deal for Matt Kemp, Max Fried to the Braves as part of a six-player trade for Justin Upton and Trea Turner to the Nationals as the player to be named in a three-team, 11-player deal. Turner initially could not be named in that deal under an old rule in which players could not be traded within a year of getting drafted.
Preller has made a number of dazzling moves since, and built a team that advanced to the National League Championship Series last season. But eight years later, he was still chasing Turner, making a higher bid for him than the Phillies, who signed the free-agent shortstop to an 11-year, $300 million deal. Eflin, meanwhile, signed for $39 million with the Rays. And Fried, who is eligible for free agency after 2024, likely is headed for a massive jackpot.
(Top photo of Sean Murphy: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
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