The Cardinals were rumored all offseason to be in on Oakland A’s star Catcher, Sean Murphy. But there were also many signs connecting them to the number one Free Agent option, Willson Contreras. Either way, a move would cost the Cardinals. If they wanted to acquire Murphy, they would have to trade assets for him. If they wanted to add Contreras, it would require a sizable contract, and additionally cost the Cards a draft pick due to MLB’s Qualifying Offer stipulations. Ultimately, the front office opted for paying Contreras, and boy did they pay the man. The Cardinals shelled out the largest contract to an outside Free Agent in the history of the organization, 5 Years, $87.5 million. So what made Mozeliak and co give up on acquiring Sean Murphy?
The Mozeliak regime has shown they are more than willing to swing big trades to acquire bonafide stars. Look to the recent acquisitions of Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Marcell Ozuna. However, one thing those deals all had in common was the lack of proven MLB talent given up in them. The biggest piece of the Ozuna trade was Sandy Alcantara, and while he has gone on to become one of the best pitchers in the National League, at the time of the trade he had yet to make any significant push at the big league level. Similarly, Carson Kelly and Austin Gomber were the main pieces of the Goldschmidt and Arenado trades respectively. Neither had more than a cup of coffee at the Majors for St. Louis, so the juries were still out on them. If sources are to be believed, the A’s were not only asking for one proven young quantity, but two, Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan. Additionally they sought top pitching prospect Gordon Graceffo. According to popular MLB Trade Simulator “baseballtradevalues.com,” Murphy possessed a value of $66.2 million. Nootbaar, Donovan, and Graceffo combined to total more than $90 million worth of value. The A’s shot for the stars hoping to hit the Moon, but shot so far over the Moon there was no possible way to make it there. They ultimately settled for a package far less valuable from the Braves, but as they did with the deals for Matt Olson, Josh Donaldson, and many others, opted for quantity over quality.