One of the biggest questions for the Oakland A’s this offseason will involve Sean Murphy.
There were trade winds swirling around Murphy at the deadline. Both the Guardians and the Red Sox had interest in the A’s catcher, but nothing came of those talks. At the same time, the Guardians had felt that they were close to landing Murphy on several occasions, making it likely that those talks are rekindled during the offseason.
Sean Murphy’s price tag only going up
Meanwhile, Murphy has been on an impressive hot streak. He has produced an excellent .306/.389/.549 batting line in his 167 plate appearances since July 1, hitting eight homers and 11 doubles. He has improved his approach as well, with 18 walks and just 25 strikeouts in that time.
Murphy was already going to bring in a solid trade package as it was. A Gold Glove winning catcher with plenty of pop in his bat and three years of team control remaining after this season, he was already the type of player that plenty of teams would covet. Even rebuilding teams could look at him as a building block.
That price tag is only increasing. Should Murphy’s excellent run over the past seven weeks continue, that price tag will continue to go up, potentially landing the A’s even more top prospects. Even with the improvements made in their farm system, they need more high end talent.
Murphy should be able to bring that in. He will be more affordable than the top options in free agency as he is just entering arbitration. He is also younger and is only getting better. Add in his recent improvements, and his value is only going to increase on the trade front.
Sean Murphy was already a valuable trade chip for the Oakland A’s. His recent run of success is making that value climb even higher.