MLB Rumors: AL East Team Interested In Trade For Sean Murphy

The trade market for Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy is heating up. His name was bandied about quite a bit at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas last week, and the latest team to throw their hat in the ring for the premier backstop is the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Sources: #Rays among several teams showing trade interest in #Athletics catcher Sean Murphy, a Gold Glove winner in 2021 with 3 years of control before free agency.

The Rays, as usual, are taking a buyer-and-seller approach to the offseason market. @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 14, 2022

According to MLB Insider Jon Morosi, the Rays are among several teams with interest in trading for the 2021 Gold Glove catcher. Murphy still has three years of team control, notes Morosi, and No. 1 catchers with defensive chops and pop at the plate are hard to find.  

The 4-year veteran hit .250 this season with a .759 OPS and slugged 18 homers and drove in 66. He'll be arbitration-eligible this winter, which means his salary is about to skyrocket, something the A's, naturally, are averse to. 

Tampa Bay struggled to find consistency behind the plate in 2022, and in fact, reached out to the A's to obtain Christian Bethancourt as a stopgap for the last couple of months of the season. 

Now they'll be knocking on Oakland's door once again.

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