The Atlanta Braves are lucky to have a talented starting catcher locked up for a long time. Not to mention, he’s also signed for a relatively affordable rate. Yes, there is some concern about Sean Murphy’s long-term viability after a down 1.5 seasons, but he was one of the best catchers in baseball before that and is highly regarded by his pitchers.
Murphy was a great trade for the Braves back in 2022, but they had to part with a budding catching prospect to make it happen. Atlanta sent William Contreras to the Brewers and he has blossomed into an offensive powerhouse. However, his defense is still quite lackluster.
Braves’ Sean Murphy deal looks like bigger bargain after Cal Raleigh extension with Mariners
Murphy has been a huge talking point amongst fans this offseason and it’s understandable with his second-half fall-off in 2023 and very poor offensive season in 2024. However, it’s a tad misguided as his injury at the start of last season seemed to bug him the entire year and he’s still a valuable asset to this team. But he will start this season injured as well after a broken rib early in spring training.
His contract extension when the Braves traded for him was for six years and $73 million with a $15 million club option in 2029 (no buyout). The annual average value (AAV) of his contract is $12.17 million. Right now, Spotrac has Murphy’s salary listed as the third-highest by an MLB catcher just behind Salvador Perez and J.T. Realmuto.
This is a very great contract structure and it’s friendly for the Braves in the long run. The Seattle Mariners decided they would try their hand at an extension for their Gold Glove backstop Cal Raleigh. It was announced that Raleigh inked a six-year, $106 million extension on Tuesday.
Details on Cal Raleigh's extension with the Seattle Mariners, per sources:
$10 million signing bonus
2025: $1 million salary
2026: $11 million
2027: $12 million
2028: $23 million
2029: $23 million
2030: $23 million
2031: $20 million vesting player option (with $2 million buyout)— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 25, 2025
The deal starts similar to Murphy’s back-loaded deal with a low salary in the first year but ramps up in the following seasons. The difference is Murphy is capped at $15 million for the remainder of his deal. Raleigh will cost much more in the long run with an eventual $23 million salary starting in 2028.
This makes Murphy’s contract look even better than it already did. Raleigh is 28 years old it makes sense why they’d extend him with his impressive power numbers and defensive ability. That’s going to be a lot of money going to a catcher in their 30s but if he maintains his current production, it’s a fair deal even with the low batting average.
Atlanta has a catcher who is a defensive equivalent to Raleigh when healthy. Murphy is going to give the team 20+ doubles, around 20 homers, around a 120 wRC+, and excellent game calling/plate blocking/framing. He has underperformed a little as of late but he’s still one of the premiere MLB catchers.
Alex Anthopoulos has once again proven he knows how to get great talent and a fraction of the price the rest of the league has to pay.
