Many GM’s around Major League Baseball have made a name for themselves for outside the box moves (or lack thereof for that matter), but none more so than Padres GM – A.J. Preller.

His knack for taking big swings in trades and free agent signings has led to a lot of headlines coming out of San Diego the past few years. For the Atlanta Braves, he also represents a prime opportunity to get a massive trade done.

His bold move prowess is exactly the kind of gamble that would need to occur if Braves’ catcher Sean Murphy was to be traded at this year’s deadline.

It’s been reported that Braves GM, Alex Anthopoulos, isn’t looking to move Murphy at the moment.

However, given Drake Baldwin is the real deal and other holes exist on Atlanta’s roster, Murphy could be acquired for the right price.

A.J. Preller and Padres could be the perfect partner for a Sean Murphy trade

This time of the year trade rumors come with a grain of salt, but no matter what Anthopoulos’ public stance is on trading Murphy, Preller can always cook up an offer that is hard to refuse.

Because catcher production is down so much across the league Murphy is a coveted player.

However, San Diego’s catcher production in particular is embarrassingly poor.

The Padres rank 29th in baseball in catcher fWAR (-0.7) and have a not so nice 69 wRC+ from that roster spot this season.

Murphy’s 126 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR would solve a massive problem for San Diego, and they have a potential return package that would be right up the Braves alley.

Leo De Vries is the Padres’ top ranked prospect, and fourth overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.

He is an 18 year-old shortstop and was the top ranked international prospect in 2024.

De Vries is definitely a guy who San Diego wants to keep in the organization, but Murphy is in the same conversation for the Braves. These two names headlining a potential trade package is the needed groundwork for this deal to take place.

Anthopoulos may not be willing to listen on most offers for Sean Murphy in 2025, but if A.J. Preller wants Murphy bad enough he has the tools to make an offer that Anthopoulos has to at least take into consideration.