The D-backs announced that they’ve acquired minor league catcher John Ryan Murphy from the Twins in exchange for minor league left-hander Gabriel Moya. In a corresponding move, Yasmany Tomas has been transferred from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL to clear a spot on Arizona’s 40-man roster.
Murphy’s tenure with the Twins will come to a disappointing end after roughly a season and a half. Acquired prior to the 2016 season in a straight-up swap for outfielder Aaron Hicks, Murphy floundered in his first season with the Twins in ’16 and has yet to see the Majors in 2017. Hicks, meanwhile, finally broke out and delivered on his former top prospect status as a member of the Yankees in 2017, though he’s been sidelined for about a month due to an oblique injury.
The 26-year-old Murphy showed plenty of promise in 2015, hitting .277/.327/.406 in his first extended look in the Majors as a member of the Yankees. With a long-term need behind the plate and a glut of outfield depth in his system, former Twins GM Terry Ryan moved the out-of-options Hicks to New York in exchange for Murphy with the hope that he could succeed Kurt Suzuki as the Twins’ starting catcher in the long run.
Murphy, though, logged just 90 plate appearances with the Twins in 2016 and hit .146/.193/.220. He posted a .609 OPS at the Triple-A level last year as well and hasn’t been much better in 2017, hitting just .222/.298/.330 with four home runs through 218 plate appearances. The Twins inked Jason Castro to a three-year pact this winter and have backup catcher/mop-up reliever extraordinaire Chris Gimenez controlled through 2018, while 26-year-old Mitch Garver’s strong minor league play has easily vaulted him over Murphy on the organizational depth chart. The inclusion of journeyman Anthony Recker in this week’s Jaime Garcia swap gave the Twins yet another experienced option at catcher and likely made Murphy all the more expendable in their eyes.
For all of his flaws at the plate, Murphy has halted 39 percent of stolen base attempts against him and has delivered superlative framing marks both this season and last in Triple-A Rochester. For a Diamondbacks organization that has placed a clear emphasis on catcher defense — highlighted by the signing of light-hitting Jeff Mathis to a two-year deal — the interest in Murphy is understandable. He’s probably behind Mathis, Chris Herrmann and Chris Iannetta on the depth chart for now, but Iannetta is a free agent at season’s end while Herrmann (also a former Twin) is a clear non-tender candidate, if not a DFA candidate.
In Moya, the Twins will pick up a left-handed arm that ranked as the 25th-best asset in a thin Diamondbacks farm system, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. The 22-year-old Moya has served as the closer with the D-backs’ Double-A affiliate this season and posted a gaudy 0.82 ERA with 14.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 42.5 percent ground-ball rate. He’s saved 17 games at that level, though Callis and Mayo suggest that he doesn’t have the stuff to close at the game’s top level. They do note that unlike many relievers, Moya has four useful pitches, highlighted by a changeup and also featuring an average fastball and slider.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Former yankee
Yanks got Aaron Hicks for him…haha
Hope J.R. Murphy can make it with the Diamondbacks. Never found his spot with the Twins after being traded by the Yankees. Good “kid” hope he lands on his feet and has a nice MLB career.
That’s because he didn’t hit with the Twins.
Another terrible Terry Ryan acquisition erased from the team. Thank you, Arizona.
Tomas has turned out to be quite the bust.
Hector Olivera: Hold my cerveza.
+1
Step aside… Rusney coming through.
Tomas can opt out after next season. Lol. He is on the Dayan Viciedo track. Chunichi Dragons FTW.
He’s still been hitting plenty of home runs, when healthy. He’s no all star but he’s serviceable. The problem is his contract, which the DBacks need to get off their books if they want to keep their core together
Says someone who has only been focusing on the last six months. While he has never been solid defensively, which I admit, seeing him play the outfield in person has been completely frustrating, his bat has been great. He got hurt as the majority of players do. He still can help out the team during the playoffs and his contract has not been a bust. He has a solid bat, both last season and part of this season.
I’d like to agree but he was worth like 0.2 WAR in 2016 while hitting 30 HRs. Something isn’t right there.
According to fWar he was actually a -1.2 war player last year but he had a +1.2 OWAR. His defense sank him
Twins win this deal by a long shot. Gabriel Moya could be a very legitimate 8th inning guy or closer. Love this for the Twins.
0.82 ERA with 14 K/9.
@Phillies2017. Right now, I agree with you that Twins won this trade. However, I don’t judge who won the trade until the players actually perform for a couple of years. Maya’s numbers are outstanding, but the experts say he doesn’t have the stuff to either close or setup at the majors level. So his ceiling could be AAA. Time will tell.
In 2014, BA ranked Murphy 4th in the Yankees system ahead of Judge, Bird and Severino.
Hey, things change. In 2012, BA ranks Josh Donaldson the 13th (yes, Thirteenth) best prospect in the A’s system with a C+ grade. In 2013, Mookie Betts was not even ranked in the Red Sox Top 30 (moved up to as high as 6th in 2014).
And then Donaldson learned about launch angle and increased OPS and “Just Say No to Groundballs”. The rest is history.
Lee Harvey Oswald….John WIlkes Booth… I feel like John Ryan Murphy’s nickname not being “The Assassin” is a missed opportunity..
Lol. Yankee fans on blogs called him SKJRM (SK standing for Serial Killer)
Until you see him hit….
You know when they’re using your middle name that you did SOMETHING wrong.
If you look at all the young outfielders that terry ryan traded in his twins tenure it’s quite shocking…. Gomez, span, hicks and revere to name a few. Not one of those trades has worked out too well. The best probably being the revere trade that netted Trevor May (I love his MLBTR contributions) but even he just had TJ so who knows how that’ll work out in the end.
To be moderately fair to Ryan, Bill Smith was the GM both when the Twins traded for Gomez and when they traded him away.
The trade for Gomez actually would’ve been fine if they’d hung onto Hardy and given him the same three-year deal the O’s did rather than shipping him to Baltimore in a salary dump to pave way for Tsuyoshi Nishioka..
The others, yes, have been ugly.
Ever since the near-contraction of the team, Twins fans have a tendency toward paranoid conspiracy theories.
The JJ Hardy trade to baltimore still gives me nightmares.
Trading Hardy for nothing was a terrible move. They have had trouble at short since.
And they had almost nothing but trouble at SS BEFORE Hardy. If you compensate for the medical staff at the time bungling his wrist injury he had a perfectly good 1 year in MIN.
Bill smiths run with the organization really was terrible. Look back at his draft picks too…. it’s bad.
I think Span for Meyer was the type of trade that should be made. Meyer hurt his shoulder and it didn’t work out but he was the high upside starter type that you should try and trade for. I think the Revere trade is close to even. Revere wasn’t much but May might turn out to be a solid reliever (TJ this year). They gave up too quickly on Hicks.
Exactly….Hicks in left with Buxton in center and Kepler in right would have been amazing.
Amazing for everyone playing against them
For all of the tendency for Ryan and Smith to go for toolsy high schoolers, they sure liked to give up on them quickly.
Good acquisition for the Twins.
Even though Murphy is regarded as the #1 pitch framing catcher at any level of major and minor league baseball, I hate to see Moya go. He has been outstanding at AA Jackson, converting 17 out of 17 Save opportunities and pitching to a 0.82 ERA on the season. He absolutely dominated all season, and he’s left handed.
I don’t like the trade (unless it is a necessary precursor to another, imminent trade). I think the D’backs gave up too much, and I think they could have used Moya in September and beyond.
I tend to agree, although I’m still giving Mike Hazen and co. the benefit of the doubt. Murphy could be a nice cheap option for them next season. If he turns out to be close to the player the Twins thought they were getting when they traded Hicks for him, the DBacks likely won this deal in a landslide. Way too early to judge the trade at this point
At the time of the Hicks trade the Twins were out of options with him and they risked losing him for nothing so they flipped him for Murphy who at the time was highly thought of so u just never know
But, Rosario had options. Simply put, Terry Ryan bungled the deal. He gave up too soon on a good player. You can bet it won’t happen with Buxton….and I’m sure Falvey doesn’t wear beer goggles when looking at Zach Granite….who is Ben Revere lite. They could have kept Hicks as a 4th outfielder, too…then we wouldn’t have to watch Robbie Grossman in the outfield. He woukd have been someone else’s problem.
Hicks has played well half a year and who is to say he doesnt regress and I was a huge Hicks fan but ur right some of the deals we make are just plain terrible
Hicks couldn’t get it together with the Twins. Rosario was the far better option for the roster spot. And getting Trevor May for Ben Revere is worth it every time. Revere was over rated in MN
I like it. Didn’t think the Twins would get anything for Herrmann or Murphy, but the Diamondbacks have given the Twins decent guys for both.
Are you delusional????
Another Cashman heist.
Backup catcher/mopup reliever extraordinaire… I’m stealing that one.
Gimenez chasing down the record for most relief appearances by a position player is one of my favorite things about not just the Twins’ 2017 season but the overall Major League Baseball season in 2017. It’s more entertaining than Edwin Jackson’s quest to take down Octavio Dotel’s record of most franchises.
Also: the genuine joy and amusement I derive from the pursuit of frivolous records is worrisome. š
Oh, I feel that… I have to work to stop myself when I realize that I’m looking forward to the fifth slot in the rotation hoping that the starter melts down and Gimenez can get in there again.
This looks like the precursor for another D’backs trade.
Damn why couldn’t the Braves get him for Garcia not that he would be the starting catcher of the future but at the very least he could have gave competition towards the back up spot next year.
I thought I saw his name come up at some point in the posts about the Garcia trade.
Why’d the dbacks trade Moya for dirt? There was just an article on here about Moya being the next big thing for Arizona!