Red Sox Deadline Target: C Sean Murphy

A player that's felt like a future Boston Red Sox for years, is this summer the right time for this marriage to commence?

Photo Courtesy of Matt Stone - Boston Herald via Getty Images

Twenty-two days before the MLB Trade Deadline, the Boston Red Sox catapulted their way back into postseason contention: back into the buyers’ market this deadline season.

It’s been clunky, but even at 48-45, the Red Sox have the ninth-best run differential in the league and an expected win-loss record of 51-42.

It feels like the dam breaks in the next few weeks for this team, as it gears up for a gauntlet following the Colorado Rockies, with the next four series up to and beyond the All-Star Break being against postseason contenders.

That said, Boston shouldn’t wait around to determine its fate at the deadline — be aggressive on the buy if you believe this roster has that kind of juice to make a deep postseason run.

So, where can this team stand to upgrade? The mind automatically goes to the mound — every team can use an extra arm or two in the rotation and bullpen. However, there’s some serious areas of improvement needed in the lineup.

Lucas Giolito was in vintage form during June resurgence

A lot of that is alleviated by the returns for designated hitter Masataka Yoshida and third baseman Alex Bregman, but they’ve still gotten minimal value out of second base and the backup catcher positions.

The latter is where we look today, with Atlanta Braves backstop Sean Murphy the first target to examine.

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Why would the Braves trade him?

This year is a nightmare for the Braves — has been since the first week of the season. While they returned to around .500 in mid-May, they haven’t been within a game of that since May 24.

Their rotation is decimated by injuries to key guys like 2024 Cy Young winner Chris Sale and emerging star Spencer Schwellenbach, while the lineup just isn’t good enough to pick up the slack.

As of July 9, they’re 39-51 with a 3.8% chance of making the postseason, per FanGraphs.

As for their farm system, it could certainly use a face lift as the Braves already debuted catcher Drake Baldwin, as well as AJ Smith-Shawver and Didier Fuentes.

Murphy makes $15 mil a season through 2029 — his age-34 season — assuming the club option is picked up and while his production is good, he’s the fifth highest-paid catcher in the league and turns 31 in October.

Defensively, he’s still very good, so even with his contract there’s a strong chance someone pays a heap to acquire him for the rest of his prime.

What does a trade look like for Murphy?

Red Sox get: C Sean Murphy, small cash-break on Murphy’s contract
Braves get: OFs Jarren Duran and Jhostynxon Garcia (No. 7 on Sox Prospects) and RHP David Sandlin (No. 13)

While the Braves have serious money tied up in the outfield between Jurickson Profar and Michael Harris II, Duran comes as a cost-effective option that can allow Profar to slide to DH next year if Marcell Ozuna leaves in free agency.

Not only that, but Garcia affords them either another cost-effective outfielder who can play at the major-league level in the event of injury or a Top 100 prospect they can flip in another deal this winter to perhaps address the rotation.

The Braves are savvy; they know how to re-tool on the fly.

Sandlin also gives them a high-upside arm with MLB rotation potential, which looms large between injuries and age/contract concerns surrounding their Opening Day 2025 rotation.

Who says no?

While the Red Sox definitely could stand to improve their catching depth overall, I’m not sure they want to go the route of Murphy for a few reasons.

First, even if Carlos Narvaez is slowing down at the plate, whether it’s regression to true talent or volume catching up, his defense still more than picks up the slack. Plus, he has a made-for-Fenway swing as he has a Pull-Air rate of 19.9 percent.

Second, if the Red Sox wanted to trade for another catcher to go to more of a true(r) rotation of Narvaez and C-2, Murphy feels expensive both financially and on the open market to not be an everyday guy.

Joe Sullivan via Getty Images

There are two solutions, I think, for the Red Sox regarding the catcher position: Play Connor Wong more and hope he fights his way out of it at the plate, or trade for a cheap(er) backup, similar to Danny Jansen a year ago.

Unsure of how the latter happens presently, but it just makes more sense than seemingly demoting Narvaez.

For a Red Sox fan, that probably sounds like awful logic to say Murphy is too good to trade for in a contention year, but that’s kind of where things stand. You can go crazy as a buyer any year you want to if you have the assets to do it, but that doesn’t always mean you should.

There’s a risk-reward nature to navigating the Trade Deadline. While the ultimate payoff is winning the World Series, depleting a farm system to do so can create some problems with sustainability year-to-year.