Twins

Twins Trade Catcher Murphy to Diamondbacks for Minor-League Reliever Moya

The 40-man roster churn for the Minnesota Twins continued on Thursday, as the team shipped catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Arizona Diamondbacks for left-handed reliever Gabriel Moya. Both teams confirmed the move via press releases.

Moya will head to Double-A Chattanooga to get his Twins career underway, the team announced. Moya will be very familiar with the league, as he was a Southern League All-Star this season.

Murphy was the odd man out behind the plate as the Twins had amassed five catchers on the 40-man roster with the Jaime Garcia trade earlier in the week, which brought Anthony Recker into the mix. Recker was initially assigned to Double-A Chattanooga, but it appears likely that will change with this move.

Murphy came over in a deal following the 2015 season from the Yankees, as outfielder Aaron Hicks was sent to New York in return. But while Hicks has blossomed into a stellar everyday player for the Yankees this season — current injury notwithstanding — Murphy struggled to find his footing with the Twins and was behind the 8-ball almost immediately. Murphy hit just .075/.119/.100 over his first 44 plate appearances last season before being sent to Triple-A Rochester.

Things did not improve much down on the farm, as Murphy inexplicably hit just .236/.286/.323 in 83 games with the Red Wings before returning for the stretch run to back up Kurt Suzuki in the major leagues last season. While the Twins were hoping to catch Murphy on the upswing after he’d hit .277/.327/.406 in 2015 with the Yankees, that simply was not the case.

Murphy had hit just .222/.298/.330 with the Red Wings this season as he and Mitch Garver — one of the Twins’ better hitting prospects who is actually older than Murphy — have shared time behind the plate this season.

While Murphy has struggled at the plate, he’s done fine work behind it. According to Baseball Prospectus, Murphy has been the top framing catcher in Triple-A this season, providing the Red Wings with 18.8 fielding runs above average. Only three catchers are above 10 runs this year in the minor leagues. The other two are Cardinals prospect Carson Kelly (10.2) and Eddy Rodriguez (15.3), who spent time this spring in Twins camp.

Murphy was also No. 1 among Triple-A catchers framing-wise last year as well, though he’s already exceeded last season’s value (17.8 FRAA) thus far this season.

Moya’s numbers jump off the page at Double-A Jackson this season, as the 22-year-old lefty has pitched in 34 games as the closer for the Generals. Moya has saved 17 games with a 0.82 ERA and through 43.2 innings has a K/BB rate of 68-12 (14 K/9) with a WHIP of 0.78. As a lefty, Moya does a terrific job against left-handed hitters (.589 OPS against), but he’s been absolute death to righties (.353). In fact, he’s allowed just four extra-base hits — all doubles — to right-handed hitters this season, as they’re a collective 14-for-109 against him (.128) all season.

Moya’s dominance this season has also been consistent, as he’s allowed month-by-month OPS marks of .483, .421, .368 and .387. He also doesn’t have much of a home-road split in terms of OPS allowed (.405 OPS at home, .431 away) and how is this for a statistical oddity? He hasn’t allowed a single earned run on the road this season. That’s 19.2 innings with only one run — an unearned one — allowed all season.

He’s also on an impressive streak, as he hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 1. That’s a 30.2 inning stretch with a K/BB ratio of 44-4 and a slash line allowed of .136/.176/.165.

Moya doesn’t boast the high-end velocity one might expect out of numbers like he’s posted

Now before one starts jumping up and down over the team acquiring the next Billy Wagner, we ought to cool our jets just a little bit. Minor league numbers — especially in the lower minors — aren’t always what they seem, and sometimes non-traditional skill sets can look very, very good before put to the test of the rigors of not only the major leagues, but even the high minors.

Moya doesn’t boast the high-end velocity one might expect out of numbers like he’s posted, but Baseball America did rate him as having the best changeup in the Diamondbacks minor-league system coming into this season. MLB Pipeline listed Moya as the team’s No. 25 prospect prior to the deal, though it does not appear he’ll crack the Twins’ top-30 list.    

According to 2080 Baseball, Moya is not overly physical but has strength to his medium-sized frame. Baseball Reference lists Moya at 6-feet tall and 175 pounds, and that appears to be corroborated elsewhere, too. 2080 Baseball also says his fastball is fairly straight and is in the low-90s, but can sneak up on guys at times. They see a sixth- or seventh-inning guy who can keep the ball in the ballpark. Moya has not been an overwhelming groundball guy, but is usually good for a rate in the mid-40s, which will play in the modern-day, homer-happy MLB.

Moya never reached the top-30 prospects list in the Diamondbacks system via Baseball America, despite the strong billing of his offspeed. In their breakdown of the trade, Kyle Glaser called Moya “arguably the most dominant relief prospect in the minors,” though that seems to focus more on the results than the repertoire.

Either way, this cleared what was bound to be a jam for the Twins in the spring. Murphy is out of options next season, and appears to have been leapfrogged by Garver by a long shot for any future catching duties alongside Jason Castro.

It probably won’t do much to clear the 40-man roster for long, however. Moya — who was Rule 5 eligible this past offseason — will need to be added to the roster in the offseason to be protected again, and is eligible for six-year minor-league free agency as well. Odds are they’ll find a way to get him on the roster and keep him around.


Listen to Brandon every week on Midwest Swing
subscribe on itunescold omaha podcast network

Twins
Can Pablo Lopez Cement His Twins Legacy In 2024?
By CJ Baumgartner - Mar 27, 2024
Twins
Minnesota’s Biggest Concern Will Be Stress-Tested Immediately
By Tom Schreier - Mar 26, 2024
Twins

The Twins Have Gotten What They Paid For In the Starting Rotation

For better or worse, the Minnesota Twins are getting what they paid for in the starting rotation. Their minimal financial investment after shedding nearly $30 million from […]

Continue Reading