Oakland A's Wanted Cardinals' Nootbaar, Donovan in Trade for Sean Murphy

The Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals had engaged in trade talks involving A's catcher Sean Murphy, but the Cardinals found Oakland's asking price to be too high, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold reported Thursday.

According to Goold, The Athletics wanted a return of outfielder Lars Nootbaar, utility man Brendan Donovan and top pitching prospect Gordon Graceffo. Graceffo is the no. 79 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB.com's top 100 prospect rankings.

Instead of trading for Murphy or Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen, the Cardinals filled their catching void by signing free agent Willson Contreras to a five-year, $87.5 million deal. Contreras played the first seven seasons of his Major League career for the Chicago Cubs. He now joins the Cubs' arch rival.

Murphy continues to draw interest from other clubs. The Cubs, Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians are among teams that have engaged in trade talks with the A's.

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