Catcher Jonah Heim, who signed with the Atlanta Braves this offseason after being non-tendered by the Texas Rangers, was traded to the Athletics yesterday for cash considerations.
Heim went to camp with the Braves on a minor league deal, but with veteran Sean Murphy starting the year on the injured list, Heim was on the Opening Day roster for Atlanta as the backup to Drake Baldwin. Murphy was activated yesterday, so Heim was designated for assignment, and then promptly traded to the A’s.
Both Heim
and Murphy, incidentally, originally debuted with Oakland. Murphy was a third round pick of the A’s and spent four seasons in the majors with them before being traded to the Braves in a weird three team deal that saw the A’s get an underwhelming package of five players highlighted by Esteury Ruiz. The Milwaukee Brewers, the third team in the deal, got catcher William Contreras from Atlanta.
Heim, meanwhile, was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2013, was traded to the Rays at the 2016 trade deadline, and then was sent to Oakland as the player to be named later in the Joey Wendle trade. Heim then was traded to Texas in February, 2021, as part of the Khris Davis/Elvis Andrus trade.
Heim is slashing .231/.311/.410 in 45 plate appearances so far this season, and is taking the active roster spot of Shea Langeliers, who has been placed on paternity leave. 35 year old veteran Austin Wynns has been backing up Langeliers this season, but has a 244 OPS in 39 plate appearances, and so Heim may ultimately end up replacing Wynns as the primary backup catcher.
