Chicago White Sox Rumors: Sox in on trading for this catcher

After a season that saw the Chicago White Sox finish at an even 81-81, it is very clear the team needs to improve in key areas this offseason.

Defensively, the White Sox struggled tremendously. The South Siders were also in the bottom half of the league in scoring, which would clearly lead many to believe that they are interested in upgrading several spots this offseason.

However, because of the desire to shed payroll this offseason, the White Sox may not actually look to spend a lot of money. Instead, the team has even been involved in some recent trade rumors — except the Sox would be the ones moving a big name or two, just to save some cash.

Back to the needs at hand, though. The Sox do have a need at catcher, and for the sake of a recent report, that’s where we’ll focus.

In order to fill that need, Bruce Levine writes that the Sox are apparently in on trying to trade for Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy.

The Chicago White Sox have called about trading for Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy.

Just recently, Murphy won an AL Gold Glove award for his play during the 2021 season. Last year, he was again a finalist for the award. Murphy is known for being legit behind the plate, and would give the White Sox a significant boost, defensively.

Not only is Murphy a fantastic defensive player, but he also posted his best overall hitting season this past season. In 2022, Murphy slashed .250/.332/.426 while posting 18 home runs — a career-best — and 66 RBI.

The Athletics are fairly deep at catcher, which is one of the main reasons why they could look to trade Murphy. They currently have prospect Shea Langeliers who could step in and take Murphy’s place right now, in addition to having selected catcher Daniel Susac at pick number 19 in this year’s MLB Draft.

Murphy could be one of the top trade targets this offseason, primarily because he is still just 28 years old and is under team control through the 2025 season. For a team like the White Sox who don’t want to go out of their way to spend, this is the likely avenue they will take in order to improve specific positions this offseason.