Just weeks after pulling off a trade for star catcher Sean Murphy, the Atlanta Braves have locked him up for six years and $73 million, adding to the list of core players who are going to be around for the foreseeable future. On Wednesday, GM Alex Anthopoulos discussed the decision to extend Murphy right away.

Via Battery Power:

“I told Sean this last night, I was excited that he was willing to stay,” Alex Anthopoulos said over a Zoom call Wednesday morning to officially announce the extension. “When we got him, I called him to welcome him and told him hopefully he’s here for a long time. We were happy having him for three years if that was what the deal was going to be, but if it made sense to do something long term, we were going to look to do that. So, we reached out about doing it and really I’d say, the last 48 hours, it got momentum and we really locked in and were able to get something done late last night.”

The Braves are certainly doing some good business. Six of their eight position players signed until at least 2027. Remember, Atlanta did a similar thing with another former Oakland Athletic, Matt Olson. They traded for the slugger last offseason and then immediately inked him to a long-term deal.

After trading William Contreras to the Milwaukee Brewers, it opened up room for Murphy to get ample playing time behind the dish for the Braves. In 2022, he hit .250 with 18 home runs and 66 RBI. Murphy is considered one of the best defensive catchers around and even won a Gold Glove in 2021.

The future is bright in Atlanta.