Throughout the fall, Atlanta Braves fans have been waiting to see if general manager Alex Anthopoulos was going to make a big trade.
On Monday afternoon, the waiting came to an end when the defending National League East Champions made a big move, swapping catchers with two other teams.
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The Braves acquired Oakland A’s catcher Sean Murphy and sent backup catcher Manny Pina back to Oakland along with left handed pitching prospect Kyle Muller and right hander Freddy Tarnok.
The Milwaukee Brewers were also involved in the three-way trade. The Brewers will get catcher/designated hitter William Contreras in the deal. The Brewers will also get a Braves pitching prospect Justin Yeager and A’s pitching prospect Joel Payamps.
Contreras emerged as one of the Braves most popular players in 2022 as he made the National League All-Star team. “Wild Bill” hit .278 with 20 home runs and 54 runs batted in.
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Murphy was a Gold Glove winner in 2021. He has a .236 career batting average. In 2022, Murphy had his best offensive year, hitting .250 with 18 home runs and 67 RBI’s.
The catcher swap means that Atlanta will enter the 2023 season with Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud as their catching tandem.
Pina spent 2022 on the injured list after getting hurt in the first week of the season. Muller bounced between Atlanta and the AAA Gwinnett Braves this past season and was regarded as one of the teams best pitching prospects and a candidate for the fifth starter role in 2023.
However, the one thing the trade does not address is the wide open shortstop position. With Dansby Swanson now technically a free agent, the Braves will need to either re-sign Swanson or look at players such as Vaughn Grissom or Orlando Arcia as a potential replacement.
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