Seattle Mariners catcher Tom Murphy is becoming untradeable

The Seattle Mariners pulled off an incredible trade last year with the San Diego Padres which brought over a top prospect, a future elite reliever, and a young solid hitter. At the heart of the package was Austin Nola, a good but expendable player for the Seattle Mariners and I was hoping Tom Murphy would be the 2021 version of Austin Nola.

Almost everyone at Sodo Mojo thought Tom Murphy would be one of the candidates to be shipped off at the trade deadline but that idea has become rather unrealistic.

The Seattle Mariners catcher continues to struggle

The 30-year-old catcher got off to a slow start and I was hoping he would turn things around. Now that we are almost into June, we can’t really say “he’s off to a slow start” anymore. Tom Murphy is clearly struggling and is not remotely close to his breakout 2019 self.

To be fair, Murphy missed all of the 2020 season and it’s never easy to return from a long break (although Mitch Haniger is making it look easy). Tom Murphy currently has a .127 batting average along with a .482 OPS.

And this is not a case of “oh, he’s just unlucky”; Murphy’s advanced metrics are poor. He currently owns a .160 xBA and a .211 wOBA. For context, Mitch Haniger owns a .267 xBA and a .362 wOBA.

In 2019, Tom Murphy was an excellent offensive threat as a catcher. He finished 2019 with a .273 batting average and a .858 OPS. He also hit 18 home runs that season in just 75 games. Had he played the entire season, he would’ve been on pace to be an All-Star player.

I was really banking on Tom Murphy to make a comeback this year to increase his trade value to the max, but he’s done everything but that. Now, Murphy is making things very complicated for the Seattle Mariners as they seek an offensive spark.

Scott Servais needed more from the catching position so Jerry Dipoto sent down Luis Torrens, who’s also struggling mightily. Murphy doesn’t have any minor league options so the Seattle Mariners are just hoping that he can turn things around to warrant him remaining on the roster, and maybe have some type of trade value by the time July comes around.

Whether Tom Murphy gets dealt at the trade deadline or not, it has become clear that Tom Murphy won’t be with the Seattle Mariners for very much longer. This was his year to prove his worth, and he hasn’t shown up. Now the future of catching is in the hands of Cal Raleigh, and Luis Torrens.