On Monday, the San Francisco Giants made perhaps their least surprising offseason transaction in franchise history. As the offseason officially got underway, the Giants declined their team option for catcher Tom Murphy, opting for a $250,000 buyout rather than a $4 million salary.

And thus ends the story of one of the worst transactions in recent memory for the Giants. Murphy was signed two offseasons ago to be Patrick Bailey’s backup, and I’ll overtly eat some crow here. Most people ranged from critical to skeptical of the signing, but I thought Murphy was the perfect backup for Bailey: a bat-first veteran who could pinch-hit late in games (and occasionally be the designated hitter) felt like the perfect complement to Bailey’s profile as an all-world defender with a highly-suspect bat. M

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