Sins Of The Braves: Trading William Contreras

The Atlanta Braves made a mistake before the 2023 season. Despite having William Contreras, the team decided the catching position needed attention. They took advantage of the Athletics fire sale and acquired Sean Murphy. Contreras would then later be flipped to the Brewers. While Murphy had some early success in Atlanta, Contreras has shown that he has the brighter future. It’s safe to say that Milwaukee won that deal.

The Braves Made A Foolish Trade

Before the 2023 season, the Atlanta Braves decided to make acquiring a catcher a priority. This was despite having a young catcher in William Contreras who was an all-star the previous year. The Braves believed Contreras would only be an offensive player and a liability on defense. With the Oakland Athletics having a fire sale, they acquired former gold glove-winning catcher Sean Murphy. They gave up three minor league pitchers and veteran catcher Manny Pina to the A’s. While they tried to deal Contreras to the Athletics, Oakland refused. The Brewers were also looking for a catcher and entered the deal and acquired William Contreras only giving up then top prospect Esteury Ruiz to Oakland. Milwaukee also acquired reliever Joel Payamps and a minor-league pitcher.

A Middle Of The Lineup Offensive Force

Since coming to the Brewers, William Contreras has cemented himself as a “heart-of-the-lineup” offensive player. In almost two seasons in Milwaukee, the 26-year-old has a slash line of .287/.365/.466 with 37 home runs, 158 RBI, and a .831 OPS. He even earned a Silver Slugger award in his first year in Milwaukee. This season, the young catcher was an all-star and is setting career highs in homers, RBIs, slugging, and OPS. He’s also on pace to set a career mark in hits. Contreras is such a force offensively that on days when he’s not catching, Milwaukee will often have him be the designated hitter. Some are even saying that he is the Milwaukee Brewers team MVP.

Atlanta Was Wrong

As for the concerns about his defense, the all-star catcher has been an above-average defender with the Brewers. He’s thrown out 18% of would-be base stealers in almost two seasons with the Brew Crew. Contreras has also excelled at being one of the better pitch framers in the National League. I think it’s safe to say that the Atlanta Braves were completely wrong about the 26-year-old being a liability defensively.

The Braves Paid More For Similar Or Less Production

Upon arriving in Atlanta, the team signed Sean Murphy to a six-year $73 million extension. He was considered to be one of the best backstop defenders in the league. However, while he was an all-star in 2023, the veteran catcher hasn’t been nearly as good offensively as Contreras. In almost two seasons in Atlanta, Murphy has put up a slash line of .241/.346/.445 with 29 homers, 86 RBI, and a .791 OPS. This season, the former gold glove winner has been limited to just 58 games due to various injuries.

Matt Arnold’s Finest Trade

The Braves were better off keeping William Contreras rather than trading for Sean Murphy. The Brewers are paying $72,923,100 less for better offensive output and almost similar production defensively. As the years go on and given that Contreras is still young, Atlanta dealing him away is going to continue to look bad for the franchise. This could go down as the best trade that Matt Arnold has ever made since becoming the Milwaukee Brewers general manager.

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