You've gotta give to get was the sentiment expressed by Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos Tuesday morning on "The Steakhouse" with Steak and Sandra in discussing what it took to acquire catcher Sean Murphy from Oakland.
Alex believes, though, the evaluation for this trade, whatever the numbers of players may be, is only halfway complete.
"There's two report cards with this trade, when you make the trade and then down the road," said Anthopoulos. "So the goal is to get the second report card right."
On the surface, it may seem like what the Braves had to give up to acquire the Gold Glove catcher was a lot. Gone are All-Star catcher William Contreras and promising young pitchers Kyle Muller and Freddy Tarnok. The Braves, however, are bringing in one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.
It's not just the glove that Murphy brings to this team; it's the bat as well. He's got 35 home runs over the past two seasons. There's some pop he will add behind the plate and to the DH spot.
Athopoulos was very honest in discussing what it took to make this deal happen.
"You're trying to move pieces and have fewer guys, and just trying to get over the line", the Braves GM told to Steak and Sandra. "You can sit there and grind and say 'I'm not giving you that piece, because it's too many or the optics of too many players.'"
For him, Murphy was the guy they wanted and they were going to put something together to make sure that happened.
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You can hear Alex Anthopoulous' comments from this morning's Steakhouse above. The Steakhouse can heard daily 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.