Athletics’ stance on a Kyler Murray reunion is revealed

The Athletics are leaving a key under the mat for Kyler Murray just in case.

Athletics general manager David Forst was interviewed this week by Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. During the interview, Forst spoke on the possibility of a reunion with the Arizona Cardinals quarterback Murray … and revealed that the Athletics were very open to it.

“Kyler is an elite NFL quarterback and I’m sure there are plenty of opportunities for him to continue his football career,” Forst said. “That said, he and his baseball representatives know that we’re always open to him exploring a return to baseball with the A’s if that time ever comes.”

Now 28 years old, Murray was a standout amateur baseball player, being selected for the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game in high school before going on to play left field in college at Oklahoma. Murray’s talents were ultimately strong enough that the Athletics selected him with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.

Murray even went on to sign a contract with the Athletics that included a roughly $4.7 million signing bonus. But he ultimately went pro in football after his Heisman Trophy-winning 2018 season and forfeited most of that big signing bonus as a result.

This week though, we learned that the Cardinals intend to release Murray within the coming days after seven total seasons with them. That has led to some fans and pundits urging Murray to pivot back to baseball instead.

The Athletics do still hold Murray’s rights if he ever decides to return to the diamond. But given how long Murray has been out of competitive baseball, it makes a lot more sense for him to just give it another go in the NFL instead (perhaps even with this recently-rumored team).