Atlanta Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has an airtight resumé as one of the top executives in baseball. He has become a beloved figure among fans for his moxie and shrewd decision-making, pulling the team out of one of its darkest eras and building a perennially contending roster in his nearly eight years at the helm in Atlanta.
Anthopoulos’ achievements range from his knack for locking in young stars on inexplicably team-friendly contracts to incredibly lucrative trades. He will forever be remembered in Atlanta for going all in at the deadline in 2021, completely rebuilding the outfield with the acquisitions of Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, and Adam Duvall in a gamble that resulted in a stunning World Series title. However, one more recent trade has flopped so far and has some fans still grumbling two years later, and that was sending away William Contreras for Sean Murphy.
Murphy/Contreras Trade Has Yet to Pay Off for Braves
Sean Murphy Hasn’t Lived Up to Expectations
In December of 2022, Atlanta acquired Sean Murphy in a three-team deal that sent Manny Piña and three prospects to the then-Oakland Athletics, as well as another prospect and young catcher, William Contreras, to the Milwaukee Brewers. At the time, few people questioned the decision from the Braves’ side. Murphy was coming off a career season at the plate and on defense and had all the makings of a franchise catcher. Anthopoulos even doubled down on his investment and signed Murphy, then 28, to a six-year, $73 million extension immediately following the trade.
To begin 2023, Murphy exceeded the lofty expectations placed on him, even making the All-Star team. Then he suffered several injuries in the second half, which limited his total games played for the season to 108. When back healthy, he finished the year on a poor note with a 36 wRC+ in the month of September, but most were willing to overlook this on the merit of his solid .251/.365/.478 slash line for the whole season.
Then, Murphy fell off a cliff in 2024. It started with a pulled oblique on Opening Day, an injury he never seemed to recover from. In just 72 games, his line fell to a dreadful .193/.284/.352, and he saw most of his defensive metrics decline as well. Unfortunately, the injuries have already followed Murphy into his third year as a Brave, with the catcher set to miss the first couple of weeks of the 2025 season with a cracked rib.
Contreras Has Taken Off in the Meantime
While the Murphy situation still has plenty of time to resolve itself, it’s difficult to ignore what the guy he was traded for has done since being dealt. William Contreras showed flashes of stardom with the Braves, popping 20 homers in just 97 games with an .860 OPS in his final year, but he has fully broken out as an elite big league hitter with Milwaukee. In 2024, he posted a .281/.365/.466 line with a 92nd percentile batting run value over a full season of work, good for a fifth-place MVP finish in the National League.
As an organization that prioritizes strong defense from the catcher position, the Braves ultimately moved on from Contreras primarily because of his poor metrics behind the plate, despite his offensive promise. In 2021 and 2022, he graded as an abysmal defender on all levels. However, in two seasons as a Brewer, he has raised his blocks above average, caught stealing above average, framing, and pop time all above the 50th percentile for big league catchers, establishing himself as a capable defender to complement his elite bat. At this point there is a good argument for Contreras, 27, as the best all-around catcher in baseball, save for maybe Adley Rutschman of the Baltimore Orioles.
Anthopoulos May Be Kicking Himself
There is no doubt that the Murphy/Contreras trade looks rough for Atlanta two years in. With William Contreras playing like a bonafide superstar, the pressure is on Sean Murphy to stay healthy and return to his All-Star form quickly, or else it risks turning into a total disaster, especially given the hefty financial commitment to the Wright State University alum.
With Sean Murphy expected to miss 4-6 weeks, who will fill the gap for the Braves?@jonmorosi mentions the team’s No. 1 prospect Drake Baldwin as a strong candidate to start on Opening Day. pic.twitter.com/UKYKwU0End
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 4, 2025
There are some silver linings, though. None of the four prospects given up in the trade have done anything in the league, with former Braves #1 prospect Kyle Muller (sent to the A’s in the deal) already trying to re-establish himself with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan this year. Atlanta also possesses an excellent Murphy fallback plan in current top prospect and catcher Drake Baldwin, who carries a strikingly similar profile to a young Contreras. Even so, Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves will undoubtedly want to see Murphy rebound once he comes back from his latest injury, or this trade will go down as a major blemish on an otherwise excellent resumé.
Photo Credit: © Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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