Athletics GM keeps door ajar for Kyler Murray's return to baseball

With Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray about to be released — and owed $36 million in guaranteed money next season — an unexpected door may be opening. 

Murray hasn’t played baseball in years, but the Oakland Athletics still hold his MLB rights after selecting him ninth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. And with Murray headed for free agency in the NFL, A’s general manager David Frost didn’t dismiss the idea of him playing baseball, no matter how unlikely. 

Murray ultimately chose football and went No. 1 overall to Arizona in 2019 after winning the Heisman Trophy. Now, as his NFL future suddenly looks uncertain, the baseball possibility — once thought closed — is back in the conversation.

"Kyler is an elite NFL quarterback and I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities for him to continue his football career," Frost told MLB.com on Wednesday. "That said, he and his baseball representatives know that we're always open to him exploring a return to baseball with the A's if that time ever comes."

In Murray’s final season at Oklahoma, he batted .296 with an OPS of .954 and posted 10 home runs, 47 RBI and 10 stolen bases (caught four times). Murray, in seven years with the Cardinals, started 87 games and threw for 20,460 yards with 121 touchdown passes and 60 interceptions. Murray also made two Pro Bowls and was the 2019 Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year. 

Kyler Murray is unlikely to return to baseball

Not having played baseball since 2018, Murray — who played primarily outfield in college — would have a tough hill to climb to succeed in the big leagues. For Murray to return to baseball, he probably would have to return to the low levels of the minor leagues, as former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow did with the New York Mets.

If he jumped straight to the majors (extremely unlikely), he’d receive the minimum salary of $780,000. But there's no room for Murray in the A's outfield with left fielder Tyler Soderstrom (seven years, $86 million) and right fielder Lawrence Butler (seven years, $65.5 million) locked in long term. Plus, the A's are high on center fielder Denzel Clarke.

Murray should have options to start in the NFL in 2026, with teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets needing quarterbacks, so baseball may be just pie-in-the-sky.