by Atlanta’s acquisition of Catcher Sean Murphy in a three-team trade with the A’s and the Brewers has led to some speculation about the possibility of trading the veteran Travis d’Arnaud, who Murphy ousted as a starting catcher at the time he was acquired. However, The Athletic’s David O’Brien writes that Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has been “adamant” that he has no plans to trade d’Arnaud, whom the team considers a veteran leader, for beyond his contributions with the bat and behind the plate.
Going into the 2023 season, then, it appears Murphy and d’Arnaud will hold a timeshare behind the plate, with the universal designated hitter occasionally giving the Braves the opportunity to put both receivers in the lineup. If the plan is to get d’Arnaud, who slashed .268/.319/.472 with 18 career home runs, into the DH lineup with some degree of regularity, it could bode well for Chadwick Trumpchances of making the roster as a third catcher in 2023.
The 27-year-old Tromp (March 28) is the only other catcher on Atlanta’s 40-man roster now that Manny Pina And William Contraras they were traded (in the Murphy deal), although they are left with a couple of minor league options. Alternatively, the Braves could bring in a more experienced backup or simply bring in just Murphy and d’Arnaud and run the risk of losing their DH on days when both are in the lineup.
Looking beyond the 2023 season, the Braves have d’Arnaud in control of the club, albeit via an $8 million team option with no buyout. That’s the same salary d’Arnaud is earning in 2023, and while the Braves were comfortable acquiring Murphy and his projected salary of $3.5 million at a time when d’Arnaud had already guaranteed $8 million, it would be a different story to pick him up the option, knowing that Murphy will be in line for a raise and that d’Arnaud would in all likelihood be tagged for a smaller role than when he signed his current contract.
However, even if the Braves prefer to try to find a lower price for the 2024 season (and possibly beyond), O’Brien tweets that the Braves want d’Arnaud to be “around [the] long-term team. He further adds which in the wake of Freddy Freeman‘s departure, d’Arnaud e Dansby Swanson (who is, of course, a free agent himself at the moment) has moved into a key leadership role. While dealing d’Arnaud would give the Braves some possibly valuable breathing room between their currently projected $229.3 million luxury tax record and the $233 million luxury penalty threshold, this doesn’t appear to be an approach. that they are considering.
