Hey guys (big crew fan here from Ireland!)
Know my knowledge is a little more limited given I've never played the sport, but can get by fairly well via stats and understanding mechanics when spoken about
Found it very interesting that they wanted Ruiz, remember the trade with the twins where the A's targeted Pache, as a speedy defensive specialist who gets on base and uses his speed effectively. Didnt work with Pache but its clear to se what specifically they're looking for from that position
Be interesting to see how he goes, Speed kills but given the lack of power he would certainly have been my 4th favourite of the brewers outfielders, and would question, despite the Triple A stats, if he can get OB enough in the major to abuse this power
As for the return, I'm fairly sure a lot of us didnt expect we'd be able to get any catcher with this sort of offensive capability. Given the crews history with developing catchers on defense, and this guys attitude and drive, Im really shocked at the price we got him for. I think both teams enquired about Murphy, but It sounds like the A's strong armed the Braves into acquiring Ruiz for the trade, and the brewers have absolutely leveraged that to the full. I'm curious why the Braves were so desperate for Murphy, I wonder did they see an issue with Contreras, or more due to D'Arnaud's injury history and Pinas LT injury last year?