The Giants got some frustrating injury news today, as manager Bob Melvin revealed to reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that veteran catcher Tom Murphy has been dealing with back spasms throughout camp and is being sent for an MRI today to determine the severity of the issue.
According to Slusser, the club believes that Murphy’s back issue isn’t a particularly serious one. Even so, it’s understandable for the Giants to be cautious with Murphy. The veteran will turn 34 in early April, and catchers often struggle to stay healthy and productive as they enter their mid-30s. What’s more, Murphy appeared in just 13 games last year and 74 games total across the past three seasons. Those struggles to stay healthy have defined Murphy’s career to this point, and last year his injury woes were compounded by difficulties at the plate with a .118/.211/.235 slash line with a 36.8% strikeout rate.
That sample of just 38 plate appearances is impossible to draw meaningful conclusions from, and Murphy slashed a sensational .292/.357/.522 with 9 homers in just 201 trips to the plate across the 2022 and ’23 seasons. On the other hand, the Giants already appeared to be open to other alternatives for the job backing up Patrick Bailey behind the plate even before Murphy’s latest injury. Sam Huff is on the 40-man roster and out of options entering 2025, making him a logical contender to supplant Murphy as the club’s primary backup to Bailey.
Beyond Huff, other options who could be in the mix are non-roster invitees Max Stassi and Logan Porter. Stassi is a particularly noteworthy potential option given that he last appeared in the majors in 2022 due to injuries and the birth of his son, who was born three months premature and spent a number of weeks in intensive care. Prior to his layoff from regular reps in the majors, Stassi had emerged as a solid regular for the Angels behind the plate, slashing .250/.333/.452 from 2020 to ’21 with solid defense behind the plate.
Murphy is in the second year of a two-year, $8.25MM deal that comes with a $4MM club option for the 2026 season. It’s hardly an exorbitant price for Murphy’s services should he be able to get healthy and post numbers anything like the .250/.324/.460 slash line he put up during his time with the Mariners from 2019 to 2023. On the other hand, however, it’s also not the sort of hefty sunk cost that could give the club pause about cutting bait should Huff, Stassi, or Porter emerge as a preferable option this spring. With Murphy sidelined at least for the time being, those alternative options for the back-up catcher job could get an opportunity to give themselves a leg up in the competition if Murphy’s injury keeps him from participating in Spring Training games when they begin next weekend.
This guy is the reason Joey Bart is a Pirate. FZ’s gifts keep on giving
Joey Bart is the reason Joey Bart is a pirate.
Exactly!
Bart was asked to do one thing as a hitter at the Giants. Make contact with the ball. That was all they wanted. Ran out of options before he could manage it. It’s cool he is doing it now but no one but him is to blame for the fact he couldn’t do it at the Giants.
100% right, and these folks who with hindsight want to laud Bart have their heads in the sand. Wouldn’t surprise me if Bart regresses back to norm this season.
Beyond your point there’s also the point that seemingly 50 catchers have been on a transaction for SF since Buster retired. A revolving door of kicking tires.
ff, you do know that only 1 catcher plays at a time. You think Bart would have rather been a backup and played 2 of every 7 games. You think he would have emerged like he did in Pittsburgh if he was still in SF playing 2 of 7. Murphy was signed to beat up on lefties. Something Bailey, the Gold Glover struggles with. They face lefties, oh I don’t know but I’ll guess about 2 of every 7 games. Hmm, it was the reason they got Murphy. To start 2 of 7 games. Kinda makes sense. BUT making sense is a struggle for the clueless who continue to complain about Farhan signing Murphy. Like ff for example.
I guess we will never know will we? Maybe all Bart needed was a back up role with a few at bats here and there like he got in Pittsburg!! FZ just gave up on him and overpaid this loser. He didn’t start every game for the Bucs and news flash, Bailey didnt start every game either so there were plenty of opportunities if FZ had been a little lore patient. Bailey also fell off the map second half of the year amd probably could have used a little inhouse competition to keep him focused but instead he looked hung over and disinterested most games. Do you even watch the games claude from Iceland? Isn’t it dolphin hunting season yet?
Ha ha. Nothing says “loser” more than still bitching on the internet about Farhan.
Bailey was drained. Physically and mentally. Hungover and disinterested is just your teenager perception. He is young. No competition is helping with fatigue.
Fear of losing your job because you ran out of gas after the allstar break might have gotten him to go out less and take his job more seriously. Even Mike Krukow called him out a few weeks back for not being disciplined enough. He is a little better connected than you is my guess. Since we are still smelling Farhan’s trash I will continue to comment about it so bite me if you dont like it
Yeah Krukow would be for sure.
The Giants know that getting worn down is the problem with Bailey. It’s probably why he turned up to last spring training fat. They told him to relax and get away from it all. The dude had been leading the team at 24. Plenty of time for discipline as he gets older and mentally stronger.
Comment away. I love it. I get to comment back.
frugalfarhan – a little more patient??!!! Are you kidding us?! That’s hilarious. Bart was given the job and flubbed it. It was depressing to watch as he sulked back to the dugout after another k. Nobody’s fault but his own. FZ gets rightly slapped down for most of his moronic moves, but dumping Bart was not one of those. In fact, I can name plenty of good moves, but sadly the dumb outweighed the good.
I love you guys and your takes but if you think that it was a good move dumping Bart who was a top first round pick and never put in a good situation to succeed in favor of this POS Murphy then you truly are the dumbest person to post here ever. Thats my point you seem to miss, not just giving up on Bart after not doing a good job of putting him in a situation he can succeed in so that you can overpay an injured loser is a really bad move. Sorry if you dont see that
Instead of using platitudes like “not doing a good job of putting him in a situation he can succeed”, which isn’t going to convince anyone, try using some specifics. How exactly was FZ and Melvin supposed to have used him to do that?
You say Bart was never put in a good situation to succeed, but he was the starting catcher in 2022, and wasn’t good. Bailey is the better catcher, so he starts in 2023, with Bart as back-up, and Bart is even worse than he was the year before.
Bart was supposed to have great power, but at the end of his time with the Giants he had .116 ISO. He struck out in 35.4% of his ABs, while walking only in 6.4% of them. And he can’t hold a candle to bailey defensively.
He was not good with Giants over 4 seasons. His struggles early on, are pardonable given his situation, But he showed no growth, or positive development in his last 2 seasons. No other team would have done differently.
Your take is pure delusion fueled by hindsight.
He was forced into the starter role in 2022 before he was ready and was up and down after that. I assumed you guys watch the games like I do and I didnt have to explain everything.
You don’t have to explain everything, only the thing I asked you to. Again, how was he to be used that would have put him in a position to succeed?
Were the Giants supposed to keep him in AAA in 2022, when Posey’s retirement left them needing a catcher? In Sacramento that season, Jhonny Pereda, played the most games at catcher, followed by Ricardo Genoves, and Andrew Knapp. You probably would’ve complained if the Giants kept Bart in AAA, and had one of those 3 starting for the Giants.
You make it sound so much easier than it is to develop players, let alone a catcher. They might have stuck with Bart longer had they not had the superior player in Bailey. I watch every game, and it’s you that seems to need to have things explained to.
Rushing a player to the MLB out of desperation what could possibly go wrong! Since you pay so much attention to the games have you noticed how long it has taken for all our prospects to develop?? The guy couldnt draft and he certainly couldnt develop…. Or sign core players or trade for them etc. If he hadnt signed Murphy and kept Bart as a backup to Bailey which is almost a full time gig then maybe he shows signs of promise like he did in Pittsburg. Instead you want to focus on what exactly?? Are you an advocate of giving away top draft picks in favor of a guy with injury history who clearly hasnt worked out? Should we dump Matos and Luciano now or wait until they struggle for a week like your buddy FZ used to do? You know so much please tell me how crazy I am for suggesting we don’t give away top draft picks
Why are you putting up a strawman? I never once even mentioned trading away top draft picks. Nor do I advocate for that.
FZ doesn’t make draft choices on his own. He has to rely on input from scouts. Draft choices are a staff decisions. And the development of those players is in the hands of the MiL staff, the director as well as the managers and coaches.
FZ made competitive offers for FA players. If they want to sign elsewhere, no PBO in the world, including Posey, can make that player sign.
I agree, Bart was rushed, but the Giants had no choice but to do that. With the MiL season cancelled what were they supposed to do, not put him on the ML roster in 2020? Bart had miles of runway to put it together. He had a whole season backing up Posey in 2021. Saying the Giants gave up on him too soon is absurd. Your take is pure hindsight, that only seems valid because Bart finally broke out at the age of 27. There was never any guarantee that that was going to happen.
Murphy’s Law:
When you hit 0.118, it is probably a good thing that you only had 38 at-bats last year.
But huff and puff or in stasis?
I’ll be back.
Apparently Stassi has impressive defensive numbers. Can’t hit but approaching elite in defence is what my stat focussed guy tells me. If required, my money is on that guy.
When you hit .118, you get to be the Rays starting catcher for 2-3 months like Alex Jackson. Or starting lineup for that matter.
MLB Top 100 Commenter, Come on, you know better than to put any kind of informative value on 38 ABs. More enlightening is the career numbers he had when FZ signed him: .244/.313/.456. (.769 OPS), 107 OPS+. I’d guess, if he did have more than 38 ABs, he would have regressed back to the mean.
Arenado and Contreras to the Giants for Eldridge makes a lot of sense.
Ya! If your a Cardinals Fan
Garbage trade
Good grief man. It makes sense for both teams. Eldridge is blocked by Wade Jr so they can move him. They get back Contreras to replace Murphy and Arenado to platoon with Chapman. Wake up dude.
Problem with that deal: Arenado has a no trade clause he will waive only to go to a contender. Not to mention that you have Arenado and Chapman platooning. That is silly.
Wade isn’t blocking anyone; in fact, the Giants plan to use him in the OF, not to mention that he’s always sort of been a part-timer/placeholder.
Arenado would have made a good Giant two or three years ago, but that ship has sailed.
Legit thought this was a joke to mock our horrible Joey Bart trade.
Wade Jr. will not be around next year and is often injured. We have a primary catcher with gold glove defense. No way SF entertains this trade.
Ha ha. It makes zero sense. Eldridge isn’t blocked by anyone.
So you want to trade the #12 prospect in the league for a washed Arenado as backup 3rd baseman and a 32 year old Contreras as a backup catcher making $18 mil a year? Absolutely insane trade.
Youjust, you just proposed the most idiotic trade AND then suggested an Arenado/Chapman platoon. And the said WAKE UP DUDE? And Wade is not “blocking ” Eldridge. Everything, and I mean every word of your post shows a complete lack of intelligence. I mean, seriously, you must be a complete idiot.
Youjustmadethatup —
I don’t even know where to begin with your take, it’s so far off in every direction.
A – Wade is not “blocking” Eldridge. When Bryce is ready, he takes over 1b and if at that point he needs to platoon with a right hander it won’t be the left handed Wade.
B – The Giants can’t fully use Contreras because they already have a Gold Glove catcher and plenty of DH candidates.
C – You obviously have not watched the Giants. There is zero need to platoon Chapman who, by the way, is signed for 6 years and is far better now both offensively and defensively than Arenado.
It’s time for YOU to wake up and watch Major League Baseball.
Wake up?
Why would anyone trade a Top 20 Prospect for 2 declining players whos combined salaries are 100mill over the next 3yrs?
Dumb idea
No offense!
scottn59c is correct, Wade isn’t blocking anyone. Even if they weren’t planning to use him in the OF, he’s a FA at the end of the year.
Who says they need to replace Murphy. A case of back spasm isn’t a season ending injury.
Your trade suggestion might be the most delusional one I’ve ever seen. Suggesting that Chapman be platooned is absurd. let alone platooning him with Arenado.
Why would the Giants trade their top prospect, and his 6 years of team control at a minimal salary, for 2 guys in their mid-30s in decline, and who are owed, at minimum, a combined $123.5M?
The Cards would make that trade in a heartbeat, but all they’d hear as the Giants hung up the phone is uncontrolled laughter.
Is this a joke? There is so much wrong with what you just said, including the “Wake up dude”, as if not agreeing with you is the crazy thing.
First, Wade is not blocking anyone, especially Eldridge. He’s only there since(if?) Eldridge isn’t ready yet. Plus, it sounds like they could be moving Wade to the OF. At least part time, so maybe they have different first base plans. I’d also like to see how good Eldridge can be, instead of trading him for a way past his prime Arenado. Then to suggest Arenado to platoon with Chapman?? That is where you actually need to wake up…..dude. I don’t know what their splits are, but they’re both right handed batters and you’d want both of their bats in this lineup anyway. I’d also stick with Bailey over Contreras…..a 32 year old catcher who might move to 1B or DH this year!
You just made
Silly trade offer. Chapman is as good as the present version of Arenado, maybe better.
Willson Contreras is a fine DH and possibly a 1B, but Bailey is a vastly superior catcher.
Eldridge may fall short of his lofty pedigree as a top MLB overall 15 prospect, but he will be on the Giants when it happens, he is not getting traded.
If the Cardinals want to rebuild, they should trade Helsley as a guy who really has value and could net one or maybe even two top MLB 100 prospects in return even as a one year rental. Probably ten teams in the league would pay dearly for Helsley. No one gets excited over Arenado, though I could still see the Angels acquiring him.
Giants aren’t trading Eldridge.
We’re calling the contest early today as this one is a DOOZY. The WINNER of the stupid trade suggestion for Feb 16, 2025 is…..
Youjustmadethatup
Arenado and Contreras to the Giants for Eldridge makes a lot of sense.
A 3rd baseman and C both in their 30’s with underwater contracts AND both with NTC. While Arenado would LOVE to go home, he’s from LA and Contreras as already told STL he will not waive his NTC. Let’s also not forget Arenado, Contreras play 3rd and C respectively, the Giants currently have 2 Gold Glove winners already set to start at those positions.
In exchange for Eldridge, a top 50 prospect
seriously bro April 1 is weeks away
This guy had to be trolling and all you guys took the bait hard. When things are this obviously delusional don’t feed the trolls.
Giants need a back-up catcher? I’m sure Buster can suit up in a pinch and spot Bailey a couple games during the regular season.
Sign McCann or Grandal, put Murphy on the 60 Day and slow play him in Sacramento until he is eligible to be reinstated.
McCann is a fan favorite type of player. Hard nosed as they get (call-back pun intended). Posey will probably love that McCann.
Alrighty then. That’s no good. At least a back spasm is not related to a dodgy knee.
Wonder if they’ll give Brett Auerbach, AAA super utility, a chance at some point. In addition to playing all over the infield and OF, he’s a pretty solid catcher and can be a great Swiss Army knife option for the Giants.
Another Farhan player goes down.
Bart wasn’t Farhan’s draft pick, Giants org wanted to win now and it was decided they couldn’t wait for Bart’s bat or at least wanted, needed competition in the back up job.
Due to injury in prior years and some injury of his own Bart was rushed to MLB and the development just didn’t happen. Bart is the cautionary tale for Luciano, as he too has had development time lost due to injury and the bat when it gets to MLB loses ALL power.
The only difference here is Bart had a floor as a back up C, Luciano is bat first, second and third player without a position at the moment. If he’s athletic enough to play SS you’d like to think he can get acclimated to the grass with reps. LF keeps him on the same side of the diamond, that helps, that he looked out of sorts at 2nd was not surprising that is an entirely different, complex adjustment. He’s got an option, he needs to play, get ABs and hopefully those ABs are of a better quality. Most of all stay healthy
My impression is that Luciano and Bart have the same problem at the Giants. The evil little dude that sits on your shoulder whispering in your ear as you are about to perform. That whole top prospect thing gives the little dude plenty to whisper about. Not confidant about Marco at all but I hope he brushes him off this year.
TBH, I see no comparative aspects between Bart and Luciano. Bart was rushed due to the pandemic, which cancelled the 2020 MiL season, as well as Posey deciding to opt-out that season. Plus, he’s a catcher, which on average has the longest development time. He was not only trying to hit MLB pitching, but learning how to work with the pitching staff without a lot of MiL time. The catcher essentially controls the game for his team and that’s a lot to learn.
Luciano is just still not mature enough to understand how to relax, and not put additional pressure on himself. It’s common for young players to feel they need to be perfect, and when they’re not, it’s a house of cards.
Bart was short-changed in his development, Bailey was better, passed him by, and Bart just needed more time. Luciano just needs to learn how to relax, not try to be perfect, and just rely on his talent. Easier said than done.
Fair call. Bart definitely got the rough end of the development stick.
Luciano’s head has worried me since the early days. I remember reading some quotes from him when he struggled with a back injury in the early minor league days. Didn’t come across as the strongest mental animal when it came to dealing with pain. Then Pavlovic told me how he rocked up to his first major league spring training rocking the big chain and the top prospect strut. I sort of had it as a bad combination. Anyhow, we wish him the best. Definitely hoping left field gives him a chance to chill.
Yeah, there’s no doubt that Luciano crashing and burning is a real possibility. But it is too soon to tell. Maybe his struggles will humble him a bit, and tone down the big chain mentality.
But I do see more correlation between him and Ramos than I do with Bart though. Which gives me some hope for him.
There’s a big saying in cricket. Very simple but all the best batsmen say it. “See ball, hit ball”. They have the ability to completely free the mind of thought and just let instinct and conditioning do its thing in the milliseconds they have to react. The over thinkers struggle. Fingers crossed for him.
Don’t ever talk about cricket on here foppert nobody gives a crap about that
Wow talking out of both sides of your mouth arent ya Jeannie?? In one post Bart is “short changed” in his development and the other you accuse me of “pure dilusion filled by hindsight” when I used basically the same point. I guess I convinced you
First off, you can’t even quote me correctly. I wrote “…fueled by hindsight”. Didn’t it occur to you that “filled by hindsight” makes zero sense.
Thinking we were making the same point really brings your reading comprehension into question even more. And it’s clear that any nuance is beyond your understanding. You absolutely did not make the same point. Your point has always been that Bart was short-changed by the Giants led by FZ. I completely disagree with that. My point was that Bart was short-changed by circumstances beyond anyone’s control.
The Giants had 2 options in 2020, rush Bart, or let him sit at home. He was given a full season in AAA in 2021. After 144 games in college, and 210 games in the MiLs, he should have been able to handle the starting gig in 2022. He couldn’t. Despite your assertions to the contrary, he was given plenty of opportunities. Every team in MLB, with a better alternative like Bailey, would have moved on. Saying otherwise is just silly.
Back issues suck for a ballplayer. Just saying.
You hear from time to time how new front offices like their guys vs those they’ve inherited. I’m not sure how much reality there is to that but I don’t expect that sort of mindset with this FO. This is about winning, this is about having the assets in the organization to feed the MLB team either on the field or for use in trade. While expect Posey to be his own man, I think you’ll see lots of Sabean influences, how can you not?
So to that point, the Giants would love nothing more for Luciano to restore his prospect shine. The bat has had elite exit velocities and hopefully with help and work with staff he can get unlocked. Even if he never truly finds a position can he evolve into some version of Alfonso Soriano with the kind of power that plays at Oracle, he’s still young and will play 2025 as a 23yo.
Conversely with some shine returned to his prospect status, can headline a trade for someone who maybe fits the roster better. This can’t end like Bart ended for the organization
Murphy got hurt during a downpour. The game should’ve been delayed or canceled.
Worse case he goes back on the 60 day IL and somebody else backs up Bailey. Another idea is trading him for a larger bad contract like Sonny Gray or Starlin Marte, somebody like that and also get a prospect back. Heck, even Stroman.
“…Sonny Gray or Starlin Marte, somebody like that and also get a prospect back. Heck, even Stroman.”
Gray has a NTC, which he’s said he won’t waive. As for the other 2, no, and no. The Giants need neither, and shouldn’t give up assets for either. No reason to trade for guys the Yanks and Met’s want to dump.
Here we go again. Already having Injuries before the First Cactus league Game !!
That’s sorta why you don’t see many clubs with a 35yo backup catcher
Hurt again already? It’s been Spring Training for like 16 minutes.