Monday night was insane, running rampant with Cubs rumors at the winter meetings in San Diego. In a matter of a couple hours we learned about meetings with Xander Bogaerts that included Jon Lester helping to recruit, the chances of the Cubs signing multiple free agent shortstops and the Ricketts' have told Jed Hoyer he has the green light to spend big this offseason.
Oh and apparently the Cubs are also one of many teams involved in talks for one of the top catchers in the trade market.
Cubs Talking to A's on Sean Murphy
MLB Network's Jon Morosi added the Cubs to the big group of teams that are talking to the Oakland A's about their catcher Sean Murphy.
The 28-year-old catcher started 116 games behind the plate in 2022 with the A's, getting in the lineup as their designated hitter an additional 30 times. Murphy slashed .250/.332/.426, with 18 home runs and had a 122 wRC+. Murphy has been well above average on offense since making his MLB debut in 2019, and in 2022 he ranked as the second best defensive catcher among every-day starters according to Fangraphs' defensive metrics. That led to an impressive 5.1 fWAR season in Oakland in 2022 for Murphy after he racked up a 3.1 fWAR in 2021.
Murphy is obviously a good catcher, but he's even more valuable because he's still under team control through the 2025 season. That's why he has many suitors and although the Cubs are said to be talking with the A's about Murphy I wouldn't hold my breath on a trade happening there.
That brings us to a new free agent catcher who is on the Cubs radar.
Tucker Barnhart
Patrick Mooney and Sahadev Sharma shut down the idea of the Cubs being in any trade talks (Hoyer said pretty much the same Monday night) and they also presented a new catcher the team likes in free agency.
Via The Athletic.
The Cubs are focused on free agents at premium positions and are not heavily involved in trade discussions at this point. With Willson Contreras likely headed elsewhere, the Cubs are considering multiple catchers to pair with Yan Gomes, including Christian Vázquez, who has been a part of World Series-winning teams with the Red Sox and Houston Astros. The Cubs also have two-time Gold Glove winner Tucker Barnhart on their radar. Barnhart grew up in the Indianapolis area, developed into a solid catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, and then struggled with the Detroit Tigers this year (.554 OPS).
It's fair to say that the Cubs most likely consider Barnhart as their backup option if they fail to sign Christian Vázquez, who they reportedly really want and have been one of the most interested teams for his services. I still think the Cubs have a good shot at Vázquez because they're one of only a couple teams that can truly make him the starting catcher on a team. The veteran was traded to the Astros in the summer and despite being on a World Series winning team, Vázquez has made it known his top priority is playing time.
And money of course. Vázquez reportedly wants a 3-4 year contract.
As for Barnhart, he's been a solid defensive catcher and Cubs fans will remember him from his Reds days. But this would definitely be a fallback option for the Cubs, especially when compared to Vázquez. Barnhart, 31, has a career .680 OPS and 80 wRC+. Both below league average and not much power either. He'd be fine as a backup on the Cubs, but that would certainly increase the pressure to add a lot more offense at other positions this offseason.
We'll have plenty more winter meetings talk this Wednesday on the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast.
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