The Atlanta Braves have wasted no time this offseason, staying aggressive early on. General manager Alex Anthopoulos and the front office have addressed several key needs so far, strengthening the roster in important areas. Still, it’s unclear whether Atlanta is finished making moves. Even if the Braves don’t add any more free agents, they could continue to upgrade the team through trades.
Drake Baldwin delivered an outstanding rookie campaign with the Braves, earning NL Rookie of the Year honors. With MLB teams such as the San Diego Padres in need of a reliable catcher, this situation could give Atlanta a prime chance to trade Sean Murphy to the NL West contender.
If the Atlanta Braves decided to make Sean Murphy open to trade, the San Diego Padres would almost certainly come calling. Catcher is a premier position in MLB, and Murphy brings an upside with his power output and good defensive framing (which is increasingly important heading into 2026).
In this trade idea, the Braves offload Sean Murphy to the Padres in a player-swap deal for reliever Jeremiah Estrada.
Adding Estrada would be adding another arm to the Braves’ pitching staff and help with depth. Estrada is a proven arm who has made 60+ appearances in each of the last two seasons, and posted a 3.45 ERA over 73 innings in 2025.
With all the formidable arms in the Padres bullpen, like Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon, and Jason Adam, Estrada might be expendable. San Diego also lost Robert Suarez to the Atlanta Braves on a three-year, $45 million deal.
The Atlanta Braves certainly have reason to trade away Sean Murphy. First off, it would help Atlanta clear some payroll as Murphy signed a six-year, $73 million deal before the 2023 season.
Murphy was an All-Star in 2023, but his production has seen a dip ever since.
In both 2024 and 2025, Murphy failed to appear in 100 games and has not posted an average above .200.
He was sidelined at the end of the 2025 season due to hip surgery, which may keep him out for the start of the 2026 season as well.
What the Braves could do is sign another veteran catcher on a low-cost deal, which would give them security in the backup catcher position, and send Sean Murphy elsewhere to a team with a need at catcher. Some other teams besides the Padres who are thought to be in the market for a backstop are the Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, and Kansas City Royals.
