Catcher Mitch Garver is headed into free agency after his mutual option with the Mariners was declined, according to an announcement by the Major League Baseball Players Association this morning. It’s not clear who between Garver and the Mariners declined their end of the option, but either way Garver will be paid a $1MM buyout rather than a $12MM salary for 2026.
That the option was declined is hardly a surprise; mutual options are very rarely exercised to begin with, and the Mariners have long been expected to decline their end of the option. Garver initially signed in Seattle on a two-year, $24MM deal. That remains the club’s largest expenditure on a free agent hitter under president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, though they’ve invested significantly more than that on extensions for players like Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh.
Unfortunately, Garver’s deal with the Mariners did not go especially well. He slashed a lackluster .187/.290/.341 in 201 games as a Mariner, good for a wRC+ of just 88. While he did slug 24 homers in 720 plate appearances and walk at a healthy 11.5% clip, he struck out 29.6% of the time while posting a line drive rate well below his career norms. That combination of an elevated strikeout rate and deflated BABIP was simply too much for his power and discipline to overcome when it came to being an above-average hitter with Seattle.
While an 88 wRC+ is below average, it’s still generally acceptable offensive production from a backup catcher, which is the role Garver found himself in this year for the most part. He had not been paid as a backup, however, and the Mariners envisioned him as a primary DH who could also take occasional starts behind the plate at the time of the signing. There was some logic in signing Garver for that role, given that he had just put together an explosive 2023 season with the Rangers where he slashed .270/.370/.500 with 19 homers in just 87 games, but the results of that deal are undeniably disappointing.
Now entering his age-35 season, Garver returns to free agency in a very different spot than last time. No team is going to invest in a multi-year deal to make him their starting DH. That doesn’t mean a big league deal is off the table, however, and Garver should benefit substantially from a weak catching market. While Garver grades out as a below-average defender behind the plate across the board, the pop he’s displayed in his bat over the years could be enticing to a team that needs to add power to the lineup and has a hole behind the plate. The veteran is far from the first hitter to struggle in the pitching-friendly environment of T-Mobile Park, and teams might think that getting him out of Seattle could help him rebound somewhat offensively.
In a market with virtually no depth behind J.T. Realmuto, Danny Jansen, and Victor Caratini, it’s not at all hard to see a catching-hungry team bringing Garver into the fold. The Padres, Astros, and Rays are known to be in need of catching help, and they could be joined by teams like the Rangers and Red Sox depending on the decisions those clubs make on arbitration-level players who could be possible non-tender or trade candidates.