Murphy refused his outright assignment to the minors and elected free agency Oct. 30, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Murphy was outrighted to the minors at the end of October following a disappointing 2020 season. The 29-year-old appeared in 25 games for the Pirates last year, posting a .433 OPS with two RBI and 28 strikeouts. He's made brief major-league appearances in each of the last eight seasons, but he's failed to generate much production and will likely serve as depth if he finds a new organization.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Outrighted to Triple-A
Rotowire
Murphy cleared waivers Friday and was outrighted to the minors, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Murphy served as the Pirates' backup backstop during the shortened season but did very little with his limited playing time, hitting .172/.226/.207 in 25 games. He's now failed to clear the Mendoza line in four of the last five campaigns and in five of his eight seasons in total, rendering him perhaps a better fit as minor-league depth than in a backup role.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Starting in first game of twin bill
Rotowire
Murphy will start at catcher and will bat ninth Monday in the first game of the Pirates' doubleheader with the Reds.
The clear No. 2 catcher on the roster behind Jacob Stallings, Murphy will be picking up his 15th start in the Pirates' 45th game of the season. The spotty playing time probably hasn't helped Murphy's efforts to settle into a groove at the plate, as he enters the twin bill with an ugly .186/.239/.233 slash line across 47 plate appearances on the campaign.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Back on bench
Rotowire
Murphy will return to a bench role for Wednesday's game against the White Sox.
Murphy caught for Steven Brault in Tuesday's 4-0 series-opening loss, going 0-for-2 with two strikeouts as Chicago's Lucas Giolito submitted MLB's first no-hitter of 2020. He'll retreat to the bench in favor of Jacob Stallings, who is seemingly locked in as the Pirates' clear No. 1 backstop. Stallings will be making his eighth start in 10 games Wednesday.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Starting Saturday against Cards
Rotowire
Murphy will start behind the plate and bat ninth against St. Louis on Saturday.
He's getting the nod after starter Jacob Stallings caught Friday's night game. Murphy could make two or three weekly starts if manager Derek Shelton decides to rest Stallings on a regular basis. Murphy posted an .840 OPS in the PCL in 2019, but he's slashed just .219/.265/.357 in 622 at-bats at the major-league level.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Gets spot on roster
Rotowire
The Pirates added Murphy to the 40-man roster Monday.
Murphy looks poised to open the season as the Pirates' No. 2 catcher after Luke Maile was ruled out for 10-to-12 weeks after requiring surgery to address a fractured right index finger. Meanwhile, Jacob Stallings will head into Opening Day as the top backstop, but he's hardly entrenched in that role and could cede work to Murphy if he scuffles early on.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Included in pool
Rotowire
Pittsburgh added Murphy to its 60-man player pool.
He's likely third on the team's depth chart behind Jacob Stallings and Luke Maile. While it's unlikely Murphy sees much playing time, he could provide fantasy streamers with pop when he does play. Murphy hit three homers in 19 spring at-bats, though that accounted for all of his hits during the first camp.
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Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: All or nothing this spring
Rotowire
Murphy went 3-for-19 with three home runs during Grapefruit League action.
Along with Luke Maile and Andrew Susac, Murphy is vying for the backup role to starting catcher Jacob Stallings. While the non-roster invitee could provide some pop if he wins the job, he's posted a career 39:193 BB:K while slashing .219/.265/.357 in parts of seven major-league seasons. Maile may hold the inside track for the job, as he has a history with new GM Ben Cherington from their time in Toronto. Maile is also already on the 40-man roster. In any case, Murphy could start the 2020 campaign at Triple-A, with a real shot of seeing action in Pittsburgh sometime during the summer.
Pirates' John Ryan Murphy: Invited to Pirates' camp
Rotowire
Murphy signed with the Pirates as a non-roster invitee Friday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.
Murphy fits best as a third catcher who only makes the roster in the event of an injury, as he owns a .219/.265/.357 slash line across parts of seven seasons, averaging less than 100 plate appearances per year. In 70 trips to the plate for the Diamondbacks and Braves last season, he hit a lopsided .175/.246/.413.
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Braves' John Ryan Murphy: Fails to ink deal with Atlanta
Rotowire
Murphy was non-tendered by the Braves on Monday.
Murphy appeared in 26 games during the 2019 season across stops with Arizona and Atlanta. He struggled to a .175 average to go with four home runs and seven RBI.
Murphy had his contract selected by the Braves on Tuesday.
Murphy was traded to Atlanta from the Diamondbacks at the end of July, and despite hitting just .170 with three RBI over 14 games at Triple-A Gwinnett, he'll have a chance to end the regular season in the majors. He'll take the place of Charlie Culberson, who was placed on the 60-day injured list Tuesday.
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Braves' John Ryan Murphy: Traded to Atlanta
Rotowire
Murphy was sent from Arizona to Atlanta in exchange for cash considerations Wednesday, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports.
Murphy is currently at the Triple-A level with the Diamondbacks and will presumably remain there following the trade. The move is a classic August trade that now gets made on July 31 with the removal of the separate waiver trade deadline. Murphy has hit .177/.250/.419 this season and .219/.265/.357 over parts of seven major-league seasons. He'll be little more than injury insurance for the Braves.
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Diamondbacks' John Ryan Murphy: Heading to Triple-A
Rotowire
Murphy cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Reno on Saturday.
Murphy was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks last week but will accept the assignment to Triple-A after going unclaimed on waivers. The 28-year-old slashed .177/.250/.419 with four home runs in 25 games before he was removed from the 40-man roster.
Diamondbacks' John Ryan Murphy: Removed from roster
Rotowire
Murphy was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks on Saturday.
The Diamondbacks had no need for Murphy as a third catcher after he recorded a .177/.250/.419 line in 25 games. His career slash line now sits at .219/.265/.357 in parts of seven seasons. Taylor Clarke was recalled from Triple-A Reno in a corresponding move.
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Diamondbacks' John Ryan Murphy: Blasts solo home run
Rotowire
Murphy went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in a loss to the Padres on Tuesday.
Murphy took advantage of his second start in three games by crushing a Matt Strahm offering to center field for his fourth homer of the season. Nonetheless, he is hitting only .180 on the season and figures to see limited playing time on days on which anyone other than Zack Greinke is the starting pitcher.
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Diamondbacks' John Ryan Murphy: Second straight start
Rotowire
Murphy will start at catcher and bat eighth Monday against the Rays.
Murphy will make consecutive starts for just the second time all season. Much like the first scenario, Murphy will catch Zack Greinke and Merrill Kelly on back-to-back days, but the 27-year-old appears locked in as only Greinke's personal backstop at this point. Carson Kelly continues to see the majority of starts behind the plate, but hardly has a stranglehold on the top spot on the depth chart.
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Diamondbacks' John Ryan Murphy: Batting eighth in series finale
Rotowire
Murphy will start at catcher and bat eighth Thursday against the Pirates.
With a 1.040 OPS over a small sample of 30 plate appearances, Murphy has been the best fantasy option among the Diamondbacks' three catchers by a mile. That said, he still ranks second behind Carson Kelly in starts behind the dish this season, and Murphy's lack of polish as a defender should continue to keep him second on the depth chart. The lack of steady at-bats probably makes Murphy only worthy of consideration in NL-only and deeper mixed leagues that start two catchers.
