Padres Linked to $73 Million All-Star, Gold Glove Catcher in Blockbuster Trade

The Athletic listed the San Diego Padres as a landing spot for Atlanta Braves All-Star and Gold Glove catcher Sean Murphy, who could help patch up their offensive struggles in a position of need.

The Padres have the fourth-lowest wRC+ (66) in MLB at catcher, and their backstops also have the least RBIs in their position across the league.

"No matter how much they talk about how Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado excel on the defensive side, [the Padres] would like to upgrade offensively," said The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Murphy has been a good bat for Atlanta this season, but with the emergence of National League Rookie of the Year contender Drake Baldwin — who plays the same position — and the status of the Braves' season, they could look to move on from the 30-year-old. Baldwin currently has a 134 OPS+, higher than Sean Murphy has ever attained through the course of a season.

The former Oakland Athletic is still having a productive season in 2025, slashing .225/.309/.478 with 13 home runs and 31 RBIs. He has an OPS+ of 118 through 56 games so far. If the Padres moved for the 2021 Gold Glover, thye would have him under team control through 2028 and could keep him for an extra year if they exercise his club option.

Murphy had his best season in 2023, hitting a career-high 21 homers and driving home 68 RBIs with an OPS of .847. He appeared in the only All-Star Game of his career so far that season, and started over the Los Angeles Dodgers' Will Smith and Elias Diaz, who was on the Colorado Rockies at the time.

The Padres could use the help offensively, as they have especially struggled for runs in July. Through seven games this month they've only scored more than four runs once. After Wednesday's loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Padres are one game out of the final NL Wild Card spot behind the San Francisco Giants.

They'll look to regain their ground in the postseason race as they play the final game of their four-game series against the D-backs Thursday at 6:40 p.m. PT.

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