Lockout Lookup: John Ryan Murphy

Why You Remember Him: The Twins wanted a catcher. And while I have no way of knowing this for certain, they also wanted someone with the most Irish New York cop name in Major League Baseball. Thus, they acquired John Ryan Murphy from the New York Yankees for outfielder Aaron Hicks.

Hicks would become a reliable All-Star because of course he would. Murphy would not become a reliable Minnesota All-Star because of course he wouldn’t. But it’s much worse than that!

Per Baseball Reference, Hicks produced 8.1 WAR in 2017 and 2018. Murphy produced 82 at-bats for the Twins with a .143 average. But it’s much worse than even that!

Numbers can be cold and lifeless, but video is forever. You can find, on the public internet where even kids can see it, clips of Murphy hitting a go-ahead home run for the Yankees vs. the Twins and Hicks making a diving stab to finish off another victory for the Bombers over the hometown nine.

This feels like something we all should have seen coming considering the two parties involved in the transaction. But we just let it happen and hoped for the best and here we are.

“Never have dreams.” –Twins Daily co-founder Parker Hageman

What You Don’t Remember: If you’re playing bar trivia, he’s the answer to the question, “Who caught Mariano Rivera’s final pitch?” In his third professional game, no less. He also was C.C. Sabathia's 3000th strikeout. 

What You Might Remember: Murphy was eventually traded to Atlanta for Gabriel Moya. Moya has not pitched in the bigs since 2018.

What’s He Up To: Murphy is a free agent, last playing for PIttsburgh in 2020. Will he return to the game and inflict more pain, either directly or via side channels, on the Minnesota Twins? I mean, probably.