Cleveland was heavily rumored to be in on former Athletics catcher Sean Murphy before he was traded to the Braves. What will the Guardians' next move be?
The Sean Murphy trade saga is finally over. After weeks of rumors, speculations, and mock trades, Murphy ended up as a member of the Atlanta Braves in a three-team deal.
The Guardians were one of the teams that were connected to Murphy all the way back to the last trade deadline, but they were never able to get a deal done with Oakland.
Just because Murphy won't be wearing a Guardians uniform in 2023 doesn't mean that Cleveland will give up on their pursuit of an offensive-minded catcher to pair with the top prospect, Bo Naylor.
There are still a few solid free-agent catchers on the market. Christian Vazquez and Mike Zunino are both available free agents and would be a great fit with Cleveland. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic also reported that Cleveland had reached out to Vazquez during Winter Meeting last week.
(UPDATE: Christian Vazquez reportedly signed a deal with Minnesota Twins shortly after this story was published)
The trade option is still well in play for the Guardians too. One option is to get a deal with Toronto.
The Blue Jays still have a surplus of catchers on their roster and Cleveland still needs one. Whether that be Alejandro Kirk, Gabriel Moreno, or Danny Jensen, any of them would be an upgrade over the production on the offensive side that the Guardians got in 2022.
Yes, Sean Murphy would have been the perfect fit. But just because the Guardians didn't land him doesn't mean there aren't still solid options they could go after.
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