Sean Murphy stands at the center of the offseason trade market for catchers, and the Oakland star is drawing plenty of interest. The Guardians, White Sox, Rays, Red Sox, Cardinals and even the Braves have all been linked to him recently, but the A’s are just one of two teams widely expected to trade a catcher this winter. The Blue Jays, who have a trio of Major League-caliber catchers on the roster — Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno — are also pondering the possibility of trading from that depth to address areas of need on the roster.
A trade involving one of the Toronto backstops, however, might not come together particularly quickly. In writing about the Twins’ desire to add to their catching corps, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reported this week the Jays appear to be intent on waiting until some of the top names on the free-agent market have signed before they begin more earnestly engaging in talks with teams that miss out on their top targets. Jansen, with two years of club control remaining (as opposed to Kirk’s four and Moreno’s six), is the most logical trade option of the trio, but all three should draw considerable interest and prompt offers of some extent.
It’s worth bearing in mind, too, that one offer could accelerate the Jays’ willingness to make a deal, so even if their current preference is to let the market play out, that’s not a guarantee they’ll wait until Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez and perhaps Murphy all have new teams before making a swap.
A few notes on the rest of the catching market…
- The Marlins made an inquiry with Willson Contreras’ representatives but aren’t expected to be prominent players in his market, per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Unsurprisingly, Heyman suggests that Contreras’ price tag was deemed too steep for the Fish, who received underwhelming production from Jacob Stallings after acquiring him from the Pirates last offseason. Miami has been linked to trade interest in Contreras at multiple points in the past, so it’s only logical they’d at least gauge his price tag now that he’s on the open market. The 30-year-old is the top catcher available in free agency and seems likely to command a guarantee of four-plus years after a .243/.349/.466 showing with the Cubs. He rejected a qualifying offer from Chicago, so he’d cost any signing team a draft choice.
- The Royals have drawn some trade interest in young catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. The 24-year-old made his major league debut this year and hit .217/.313/.393 with 18 home runs across 534 plate appearances. That’s roughly league average output once one accounts for the diminished offensive environment and Kansas City’s cavernous ballpark, by measure of wRC+. Melendez, a recent top prospect, showed a promising combination of power and plate discipline while splitting his time between catcher, the corner outfield and designated hitter. Kansas City can control Melendez for six seasons and seems unlikely to deal him, although his path to everyday reps behind the plate is blocked by face of the franchise Salvador Perez. The seven-time All-Star is under contract through 2025, and the deal contains a club option for the ’26 season. Rosenthal unsurprisingly writes that Kansas City has no interest in trading Perez.
- Roberto Perez’s first season with the Pirates was cut short after 21 games by a severe hamstring strain that required season-ending surgery. The veteran backstop, soon to turn 34, is back on the open market. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette speaks with a number of members of the Bucs’ pitching staff who hope the team re-signs Perez. Hurlers like JT Brubaker and Chase De Jong raved to Mackey about the longtime Cleveland backstop’s ability to connect with his pitchers and call a game. Perez has never been an impactful hitter, but he’s a two-time Gold Glove winner. The Pirates are sure to bring in some catching help this winter, as prospect Endy Rodriguez is currently the only player at the position on the 40-man roster.
If the Marlins sign Contreras I’ll leave this site for good. No one wants that right?
Figure you’ll be heading to Somalia. Some good prospects over there
I burst out laughing when I read the wsox were interested in Murphy. For a team that’s been content to wait for the scraps, that will never happen.
I don’t even know who you are. I thought marlinsfanbase was the only marlins fan around.
I think he only says that because there is probably a less than zero percent chance it happens
Yes and i misread it.
Please please please let MIA sign him. ONE TIME!
Get yoar bags a packing because I called Lucifer and he said it is a done deal!
Then again if it does happen then Ana de Armas and I will be married and she will stay young forever, so it ain’t happening!
Marlins need a Closer. Catching is not perfect, but they can keep it filled with Fortes starting and Stallings backing up.
Use any free agent money on a Closer.
Danny Jansen for Lars Noorbaar. Let’s get it done!
I don’t know. It could happen, but it isn’t a perfect fit for the Cardinals. We need LH bats too and Noot is a good one. Also, if he is traded, our options in CF get very limited. I don’t think Jansen is worth it. It would probably have to be Kirk with us adding other pieces.
Danny Jansen for Canada’s own, Tyler O’Neill, sounds better.
I’d be fine with that, but the Jays don’t need to replace RH hitting Teoscar with another RH hitter. The Cards/Jays matchup isn’t great. We need too many of the same things.
Then what we might have is
Jansen / Gurriel Jr to St Lou
Noot / O’Neil to T.O.
I guess T.O. adds the prospect?
You can always sign Nimmo after
I agree Don. Toronto media has really targeted the Cardinals as this great trade partner for a Jays’ catcher. But they don’t seem to be taking into account that the Cardinals want to win and aren’t going to be subtracting the better pieces from the major league roster. I’d welcome a Nootbaar and prospect package for Kirk, but I’d guess if these teams came together on a deal it would more likely be Jansen for prospects.
Take Dylan Carlson, he can hit left handed, he just sucks at it.
Blue Jays need LH hitters, preferably one that can play CF.
StL needs to keep Tyler O’Neill. Fans so quickly forget his potential. This season wasn’t great dur largely to injuries but last season was fantastic. I expect more of that. He’s a Gold Glover with 30+ HR potential.
Gabriel Moreno for Pablo Lopez.
Trade Moreno while he still has a bit of hyped value. Get what you can. Once he plays 100 games , you’ll get nothing.
I don’t get the rave reviews for Moreno. A good glove and high AVG that’s devoid of any power. I can’t see how that’s much better than a good glove with a lower AVG but decent to good power. The other two TOR catchers blend power and contact skills. Moreno’s power has not developed whatsoever. I’d sell high on him too. Jansen is criminally underrated between them all too.
Moreno for Pablo Lopez
Moreno had the second best pop time last year behind Realmuto. You simply don’t see that type of athleticism from catchers too often.
The power numbers aren’t there but because he can hit for avg and has above average speed, he won’t clog up the base paths. Simply looking at one lacking skill doesn’t change the fact that he can contribute in many other ways.
He’s short. He’s not stockey, of course he’s not hitting 40 HRs.
That arm tho. 40 SB from a C isn’t nothing. His control of the bat. The bat speed
He’s a 5 tool player (because he’ll still hit 15-20 protected in a lineup)
You don’t see that from any C. He’s a unicorn who’s using his bat speed to compensate for his lack of power.
His HRs aren’t cheap. Watch his highlights
Let’s not forget he can play 2b, 3b, and likely CF in a pinch too
@Jaysfan that is some straight delusion lol. He has like ten career games at other positions and 26 SBs in 336 games. Where are you getting 40 SB speed from?? Plus, catching takes a toll on the legs so any “speed” he has isn’t likely to remain a factor for too long (but again, he’s averaging like 5 a season so far).
Also I mention the lack power in part because several scouting reports over the years gave him good power grades (although not consistent across the board). When you look at the top C prospects in the game, they offer much more impactful bats that can be middle of the order threats. Having a high average is definitely uncommon amongst catchers these days, and the glove will make him relevant even without it, but people have listed him as a top 10 prospect as recently as this year and it’s just crazy how far off that is. The guy is basically Andrew Benintendi as a catcher. Useful? Yes. Elite prospect? Absolutely not (in my humble opinion).
He has 27 hrs in around 950 minor league abats and a .479 slugging %. That isn’t major power but certainly should not be described as “devoid of any power”.
In-game power is often one of the last things to develop. I’ve seen plenty of players that only hit a handful of homers when they first come up who develop solid power numbers after they have been in the majors for a few years.
What C has 26 SB, no… 15, no 10. In their career
3, 4 maybe 6 or 7 if we include 1920s Stats
Look. I’m a homer, I get it. Rose colored glasses (spelt the American way to avoid confusion)
I get it, we don’t validate shorties, im 6’1 I understand
I’ve watched him tho, tried to watch AA and AAA games he’s in as much as I can because I felt Shapiro/Atkins would never trade our prospects after seeing them in CLV
Firstly he’s an Athlete. Whatever metric you want to use, he’s gonna be considered an athlete
He’s Fast, like actually fast. Is he like Henderson…. No of course not, maybe 40 was high… ok 25.
He could legit be a 25/25 Catcher. Let him get lucky one year and get to be 30/30. Would never happen again, unless kids his size and versatility stick at C.
He’s got the Eye at the plate, he doesn’t mind hitting the other way, his pop up to 2nd is elite. He’s already a good framer. None of his tools lack EXCEPT power because of his size, but that’s mitigated by his bat speed vs Velo thrown by pitchers. You don’t need to supply power anymore, the pitcher does it for you. Just make solid contact
So if he’s plus everything offensive and right there defensive. He’s a unicorn
I can see a future where we argue, who’s better, Rutchman or Moreno.
The rave reviews for Moreno are based on him having 20+ HR power, even though it only shows up in batting practice at the moment.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. only hit 15 HR his first season. Sometimes it doesn’t show up immediately. But of course, sometimes it doesn’t show up at all and a lot of prospects fail.
I’ll take the dozens of professional scouts opinion over yours, no offence
The scouts are horribly incorrect on top prospects all the time so I don’t think you needed to add “no offense” since I’m not sure why he would be offended by your statement. There’s a reason teams are cutting scouting staffs in half. Besides, I’m sure you have plenty of opinions on players that nobody cares about either.
Also, his take was plenty logical. Moreno looks like a solid starter but certainly not a star in the making.
People said worse about Kirk
Back then they didn’t want me, now I’m hot…..you know the rest
Mike Jones!!
I too have watched plenty of Moreno throughout the minors and I agree with you jaysfan. I think the jays would miss him the most if traded. As mentioned, he hasn’t hit for much power, but it will come, think untapped potential. One of the key things the jays missed last year was the ability to put the ball in play, specifically with risp. With so much swing and miss on the team, having some consistent contact along with the athleticism Moreno brings both on d and at the dish, it would be a very tough loss to trade him.
Scouts are right now often than MLBTR commenters.
Moreno is a top rated prospect who also has had early success in limited supply. There is a reason why his name keeps coming up as a trade possibility, he’s wanted by other teams. The catching position in general is pretty lacklustre and he has the raw tools to be above average for a long time.
And no I try not to have opinions on the future of players after watching them in 3 games.
More often*
I burst out laughing when I read that the wsox are interested in Murphy. For a team that’s content with waiting for scraps, this will never happen.
The Marlins are an absolute joke. They should be forced to give that stadium back to the tax payers. Not that I want them to sign Contreras anyways, but the fact that a fair to mid priced free agent contract is too steep for them is a joke.
@Chemo850
I would take the article and wording with a grain of salt.
1) most journalistic efforts for a long time use the easy route and continue with the easy narrative about the Marlins.
2) Considering that the Marlins can easily see what Fortes can do with Stallings backing him up, perhaps the price tag for Contreras is too much to waste when you have the Fortes/Stallings option. Perhaps if it was a bigger need (like Closer), they would be willing to spend a bit.
Perez and pirates is a good fit. I wouldn’t want to pay him anywhere close to the 5 million last year and would bring a solid backup and some aaaa depth to stash.
I said last year before the season started that they needed another veteran catcher.That fiasco was almost as bad as first base.You cannot give up two positions like that.
Perez would be good at $3M and see if they can get Stallings back for a couple of low level prospects including a catcher.
One will get hurt and Endy can come up after a month or two.
They have Delay for the AAA backup if they need him.
Would it be embarrassing to trade him back and if so would they care? Trade didn’t seem to work out for either team. Be interesting to see them try again.
It generally takes three years to evaluate a trade especially with young players.I think Thompson still has potential and Nicholas had a good year.
I still like Stallings and he could split the time evenly with Perez.
You are right Miami May be embarrassed but Stallings is the backup at this point and the Pirates could include a catcher such as Carter Binns in the trade.
Delay who struck out in one of every 3 ABs, totalling 50 in 157 ABs?
They need a catcher that can hit, not one that only batted .213 for the season
But he’s cheap so he’ll be sufficient
I’m tired of the cheapskate owner of this franchise
DeLay is nothing more that AAA depth at this point and no team has a Buster Posey for that job.He is pretty typical for this position.
He also is a good catcher.
Delay committed 9 throwing errors and only threw out 10 of the 42 runners trying to steal 2nd base
He’s hardly a good catcher, but he’s good because other Endy, he’s all the Bucs have available
BC spoke highly of him and Heinamen after the year ended but probably because he was trying to cover up his gross neglect of having to use them almost all year.
You are right about the two stats although he did not have any passed balls which is a very good stat in itself.
I think that he is fine for this team as an emergency option for a week or two but for no longer unless he improves his game.He may not get a chance now with Endy and eventually Davis in AAA.
My concern, Perez again gets injured, placed on 60 day IL, Delay becomes the starting catcher and they sign yet another Heineman clone until either Perez is healthy or Nutting allows Endy to be promoted
As much as I like how Perez handles the pitching staff, he’s injury prone which means another season of non contention
Ha,that is what I said last year!
He has tried to correct the first base fiasco by signing not one but two ML first basemenlThis was an equal fiasco.
One of the reasons that I was against signing Santana was the amount of money that they are paying him which would preclude making the necessary other deals.
BC has said that they would spend money this year.
I agree with you that on Perez but he has as much chance of getting the same injury as you and I would if running full out on the bases.
It is not going to be another Groundhog Day,is it?Has the man learned from history?Decent backup catchers are not that difficult to find.They need to find a good one to split the time with Perez almost equally so that they have time to keep Endy in AAA for half a year to learn how to catch better,
I wrote an extensive reply but this site’s ads keeps me from writing it for the third time.
Needless to say I hope that BC learns from his mistake.
I wasn’t suggesting that Perez repeat the same injury as last year, but he is indeed injury prone
This site has reported that Reynolds has requested a trade
Come on, Endy won’t be up until his Super 2 status exceeds the first half of the season
That’s why Cruz wasn’t brought up earlier last year and Suwinsky was first sent back down then brought back up with only weeks left in the season
Everyone counts on their hopes while forgetting who the owner of the Pirates is
That’s one of the reasons why I said that Endy will not be brought up until an injury occurs.He needs another year of catching in AAA anyway.
Every team leaves them in the minors for several weeks.It is just smart to do.
Suwinski had very high strikeout rates,and that is why they correctly sent him to AAA where he had never payed before.
I’m extremely interested to see what is still in the minors and admit I have no knowledge of what’s going on there
We hear of Endy, Davis, Swaggerty, Peguero, Bae, Rodriguez as position players but have had small glimpses of them in Pittsburgh. And pitchers? No idea
Just wondering if anyone sees these kids and has thoughts on how close they are, and whether their skill level makes them better options than what is already here
Tired- I know next to nothing of the pitchers other than what little I read.FWIW I think Bae is impressive,and Endy Rodriguez and Davis are good hitters who need improvement as catchers.Gonzalez has been hurt,and thus far underwhelming,but him and Peguero need time at AAA to prove themselves.I am not real high on Swaggerty although he evidently is a fine center fielder.
I think that Bae should start at CF or 2B unless he crashes in spring training..Endy will be up by mid season if he hits in AAA anywhere like he has hit.The others are a year away from providing any real plus for the Pirates.
according to Rumbunted, pirateprospects and rotowire, Suwinsky was sent back to the minors to manipulate his service time in the majors.
Yes, he was in a slump, which is the excuse Cherington cited for the decision
Of course, Cherington would never lie
Cruz was hitting 237 in AAA and did not deserve the promotion anyway.
You complain about strikeouts but he would have had twice as many if they would have brought him up earlier.What difference did it make anyway?They probably hoped that he would become a better fielder in the low pressure AAA league.
I don’t put a lot of stock in so called experts.
They could ruin a young player by constantly trotting him out against major league pitchers,especially when he had no time in AAA.
It was a very good move.
If he would have been hitting 350 they would have never done it.
Too many publications have a negativity about them that can poison the atmosphere.
BC would not lie but he might stretch the truth.
Cherington speaking highly of Delay and Heinaman was for all intents and purposes, a lie.
As if the fans who watched these guys play don’t know anything about baseball
I don’t necessarily disagree with you.
I saw Gabe Moreno in the Arizona Fall League, he’s awesome, maybe a little small but a tremendous athlete
“It’s worth bearing in mind, too, that one offer could accelerate the Jays’ willingness to make a deal, so even if their current preference is to let the market play out, that’s not a guarantee they’ll wait until Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez and perhaps Murphy all have new teams before making a swap.”
This sentence… yikes. If you MUST have it be one massive sentence and not split it, at least make it less wordy/more concise:
“It’s also worth considering that one offer could accelerate the Jays’ willingness to trade, so even if they currently prefer to let the market play out, they may not wait until Willson Contreras, Christian Vazquez, and perhaps Murphy all sign before making a swap.”