Braves strike late-night trade involving roster casualty from Sean Murphy's return

The roster reckoning begins.

Eric Cole

Mar 13, 2026; North Port, Florida, USA; AAtlanta Braves catcher Jonah Heim (20) hits an RBI single during the first inning against the New York Yankees at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

It has been apparent for a while that the Atlanta Braves had some difficult roster choices coming up. While the Braves successfully cobbled together a cohesive roster despite a number of injuries, those injured guys were coming back eventually, and that would mean losing some quality depth guys. That is precisely what happened with Jonah Heim.

No one who really pays attention would mistake Heim for an everyday player, but he did provide the Braves with an experienced backup catcher to hold down the fort while Sean Murphy was still rehabbing from hip surgery. However, Murphy was just activated, which unfortunately meant Heim was designated for assignment in order to make room for him.

It did not take long to find out Heim's ultimate fate. Later on Monday, just hours after the Braves DFA'd him, Atlanta traded Heim to the A's for cash considerations.

Braves trade Jonah Heim to the A's in late-night roster housekeeping move

While the Braves may have hoped to sneak Heim back to Triple-A and stash him away for a rainy day, that was always unlikely. Not only was it probable that Heim preferred an MLB opportunity elsewhere to languishing in the minors, but decent backup catchers are hard to come by. You don't usually want Heim to hit at this point, but the offensive bar for backup catchers is very low, and Heim is respected for his catching skill. It was a mortal lock that he would find employment quickly.

There is no word on how much cash the Braves got from the A's, but it probably wasn't all that much. Oddly enough, this is a full-circle moment for Heim, as he debuted in the big leagues with the Athletics back in 2020. He'll be backing up Shea Langeliers, who has been one of the better catchers in baseball this year and also happens to be a former Braves first-round pick.

This is not the end of the roster machinations the Braves have to go through. Atlanta has now gotten Spencer Strider and Murphy back, but the returns of Ha-Seong Kim, Michael Harris II (kinda), Raisel Iglesias, and Ronald Acuña Jr. are going to cost some guys their jobs. One just hopes the Braves don't screw the process up.

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.