On to the offseason: Part 4 - Need #2 (and maybe #3, at the same time)

 Catching, oh, catching.  

I am such a fan of Austin Hedges.  This guy should never have played more than one year in the majors the way he hits.  But his overall value to the team?  It was there both on the field and in the locker room.

However, if we have a place where we can improve the offense without losing defense than it is at catcher.

So, my second addition to this club in the off-season is

Sean Murphy

Hey, when I look at his stats I am truly worried that this season could be a career year for him offensively.  And he only hit .250 with an OPS of .759.  He could end up being a lifetime .220/.310/.410 hitter.  Wilson Contreras would be a MUCH better offense catcher.  But Contreras is a free agent and will be highly sought after.  We ain't getting him if we wanted to and, looking at his defense, I don't want Contreras.  

The Guardians wanted Murphy at the deadline and didn't get him.  I think they get him now if the A's are not total a-holes like the Pirates were last year about Bryan Reynolds (how did that work out, Buccos?).

OK, so that improves our offense significantly and may, in fact, actually improve our defense.  But at what cost?

Some may say we should just go with Bo Naylor.  This would make it a family affair and, frankly, how many 20 HR, 20 SB catchers are there?  The issue with Bo Naylor is that he might not be able to be an effective offensive weapon at the beginning of 2023.  His history tells us that and portends, even when he does settle in at a level, that he isn't necessarily going to be a .300 hitter, maybe settling in more to the .260/.340/.380 range.  In other words, he may be, by mid-season, what Sean Murphy was this year.

So, my friends, it all comes down to this: Do we make do until Bo Naylor is ready to really help this team (middle of 2023 or beginning of 2024) or do we pull the trigger on a deal now?

The answer lies, as it did in July, is what would be the cost IN ADDITION to Bo Naylor.  Because, if e make a trade for Sean Murphy, Bo Naylor IS going the other way.

So let's hypothesize on what we would have to add:

1 middle infield prospect ready for the majors

1 starting pitcher, ready for the majors

1 outfielder ready for the majors

1 throw-in guy

So, in summary, the trade could look something like: Naylor, Freeman, Palacios, Battenfield and Owen Miller for Murphy.

Is that too much.? Maybe.  I don't know if I would pay it.  Maybe I would ask for a second player and maybe substitute a higher ranked prospect.  All the players we are giving up are redundant to what we have and, except for Freeman and Naylor, don't project to be any more than solid major leaguers.  Still, I might ask for Sam Moll as we have a need for another lefty reliever.  I would really like AJ Puk but we are likely to have to sweeten the pot significantly (Logan Allen instead of Battenfield and/or Brennan instead of Palacios) to get that done.

Like I said, I am pretty sure Sean Murphy is coming and Bo Naylor is going.  I would like to limit the damage in addition to Naylor and Freeman (or Arias) and if we can fill our third need, a second lefty reliever, so we could be done trading, that would be great, too.