Tom Murphy’s second stint with the Giants is over with little to show for it.
San Francisco on Monday declined the $4 million club option on the veteran catcher’s contract for the 2026 MLB season, and Murphy instead will receive a $250,000 buyout from the team.
The Giants have declined the $4 million option on catcher Tom Murphy. He ended up playing just 13 games for them over two seasons.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) November 4, 2025
Murphy signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract with the Giants in December 2023, which paid him $4 million in 2024 and $4 million in 2025.
The backup catcher slashed .118/.211/.235 with one home run across 13 games to start the 2024 season, before a left knee sprain sustained in a rainy May 4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies sidelined him for the rest of the campaign.
Murphy entered the 2025 season primed to return as San Francisco’s No. 2 catcher behind Patrick Bailey, but he started the year on the injured list with a mid-back disk herniation and never returned.
The 34-year-old’s MLB career began in 2015 with the Colorado Rockies, where he stayed for four seasons. San Francisco then claimed him off waivers in 2019, but he was designated for assignment a few days later after not making the Opening Day roster.
The Giants then traded Murphy to the Seattle Mariners, where he played until his 2024 return to the Bay.
With Murphy now officially a free agent, the Giants enter the offseason with three catchers on their 40-man roster: Andrew Knizner, who appeared in 33 games with San Francisco in 2025; Jesus Rodriguez, a promising prospect acquired in the Camilo Doval trade; and Bailey, who is fresh off his second consecutive Gold Glove Award.
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