Cardinals: Trade proposals for rumored catcher targets

Sean Murphy

When it comes to Athletics catcher Sean Murphy, there are two types of trades I could see Oakland making with St. Louis. The first is a little bit more top heavy.

Murphy is 28-years old and is controllable through the 2025 season, making him an extremely valuable asset at one of the premier positions in all of baseball. Murphy finished the 2022 season slashing .250/.332/.426 with 18 HR and 66 RBI for one of the worst teams in baseball.

Even more impressive, Murphy did so while catching in 116 games in DHing in just 30 games. He is durable and can put up numbers at the plate while playing most of his games behind the plate as a two-time Gold Glover.

With Oakland in the beginning of a long rebuild, they will looking to stack up on top end prospects and very young major league talent. Nolan Gorman is the perfect centerpiece in this deal for them, as he has the high-end tools to be a middle of the order hitter for them for years to come, but does not have a clear roster spot for the Cardinals at the moment.

Matthew Liberatore still holds a lot of value in the league, but is clearly ready to get consistent big league innings to further his development, and the Cardinals do not really have those available in 2023 for him.

This may seem like a high price to pay, but it is realistic value for a top catcher in all of baseball with three more years of control. Because Oakland is in a long rebuild, they may be interested in a larger package with less high end talent, which brings us to the second option for a deal for Murphy.

In this scenario, the Cardinals get their elite catcher, and do so by parting with one of their most exciting young arms in Gordon Graceffo, who rose in the Cardinals system during the 2022 season. Another major piece of this trade is OF Alec Burleson, who already made his MLB debut due to his high-end bat potential after being selected in the 2020 draft. Michael McGreevy could be a very dependable starter for years to come.

The Athletics may ask for slightly different trades than this, but if St. Louis pulls of a deal with them, expect something like this.

Alejandro Kirk

While the Blue Jays could want a variety of things in return for one of their catchers, it appears like their club’s biggest needs would be a left-handed outfield bat or starting pitching. In this trade for Alejandro Kirk, Toronto gets a new switch-hitting center fielder.

This would certainly be a huge trade, but the more you look at it, the more sense it makes for both sides. Dylan Carlson, even after a disappointing 2022 season, just recently turned 24-years old and is already an elite defender in the outfield. With George Springer likely needing to move to a corner outfield position, the Blue Jays would love to get a cost-controlled, switch hitting bat to play center field for them, who still has potential at the plate.

Moises Gomez was one of the breakout stars of the Minor Leagues in 2022, leading all levels with 39 HR on his way to a .955 OPS in the Texas League for AA Springfield. Gomez feels like a Blue Jay, someone with immense power who could fit in at a corner outfield spot or DH, especially with guys like Teoscar Hernandez and Springer getting up in age.

The Cardinals would acquire an All-Star catcher in the form of Kirk, who slashed .285/.372/.415 with 14  HR and 63 RBI while catching in 78 games and DHing in another 51. There is a chance the club could stretch Kirk closer to 90 or 100 games in 2023, but he will not be the kind of catcher who plays 3 out of 4 games behind the plate (but few are in today’s game). Kirk is just 24 as well with 4 years remaining of control, making him extremely valuable.

Losing Carlson would be a tough pill to shallow, but still leaves St. Louis with Jordan Walker, Tyler O’Neill, Lars Nootbaar, Juan Yepez, and Alec Burleson to man the three spots in 2023. Grabbing a starting catcher at the level of Kirk for the next four years is a no-brainer.

Danny Jansen

Trades like this always hurt, but giving away a fan favorite in Lars Nootbaar would soon be forgiven with the level of production Danny Jansen could provide St. Louis behind the plate.

Jansen, 28, slashed .260/.339/.516 with 15 HR and 44 RBI in just 72 games for Toronto last season, caching in 63 of those games. Jansen has yet to be an everyday player in his career, but the underlying numbers indicate he could be an elite everyday catcher. Jansen’s .855 OPS would have ranked 1st among qualified catchers in 2022, better than the likes of J.T. Realmuto and Will Smith. 

Not only could Jansen be a legit middle of the other bat for St. Louis, but he also is a good defender behind the plate, and caught the majority of the games he played in (88% vs. Kirk who caught only in 60% of his games). Jansen should command less in a trade than Murphy and Kirk as well, as he has less years of control and has not been given the opportunity to be a club’s primary catcher.

Nootbaar was a huge piece for the Cardinals in 2022, but would allow them to make a major upgrade at catcher while maintaining a variety of good options for their outfield in 2023. Like Jansen, there is a chance that over the course of a full season, Nootbaar comes back down to earth and proves to be more of a fourth outfielder type, so both club’s take a risk in swapping guys who have been elite in small sample sizes.