Chicago Cubs Rumors: Team linked to Sean Murphy trade

A new late development has the Chicago Cubs connected to Oakland Athletics star catcher, Sean Murphy. It's been a seemingly endless whirlwind of Cubs news and rumors today. With reports that the Cubs met with Carlos Correa today and that a deal could be done in a few days, to reports suggesting the Cubs are entertaining the thought of signing two of the remaining three shortstops, there's been no shortage of news in the last few hours.

We know the Cubs are already after Christian Vazquez, but it doesn't stop there. Jed Hoyer and company are going after everyone they can now, as predicted after Jacob deGrom and Verlander signed. Per Dave Kaplan, we now know that Tom Ricketts also has green-lighted Jed Hoyer to spend what he needs to turn the Cubs around. If that's the case, it will be interesting to see what direction the Cubs turn in their quest to find a new catcher. If the funds are there, do you outbid and go with Vazquez? Or does it depend on what the offer for Murphy needs to be? Let's discuss this further.

The Chicago Cubs could trade for their catcher of the future in Sean Murphy.

Vazquez is the better hitter, albeit with less power. He has a career slash of .261/.310/.386. Murphy, on the other hand, sports a .236/.326/.429 but has better pop in his bat, with a .193 career ISO vs. Vazquez's .124. Defensively, Vazquez has the higher steal percentage, currently ranking 7th among active catchers with a 33.97% mark on 368 attempts. Nevertheless, you really can't go wrong with either here.

Where Murphy lacks the batting average, he makes up for in his contract. He still has four years of team control before reaching free agency in 2026. Vazquez, the better overall hitter of the two, is a free agent and will cost you a pretty penny in comparison. If the Cubs are looking to spend big this winter, I see the scenario where they look to trade with Oakland and get the longer cost-effective guy so they can dedicate the higher AAV deals elsewhere.

It's been an insane pace for the Chicago Cubs in free agency thus far. Though not all the top-tier free agents have signed yet, you can sense the urgency from Jed Hoyer, and It's been stated by Jesse Rogers that Jed Hoyer already has multiple offers out there for different free agents. Hopefully, it's not long before a faithful Cubs fanbase has something to cheer about. They are putting pressure on the market. Now it's time to break through the levy and flood the rest of the MLB with Chicago signings.