The Seattle Mariners underwent a lot of transformation at the catching position just to carry the same depth chart into opening day that they had virtually all of last season.
Early in the offseason, the Mariners declined an option on veteran backup Mitch Garver, who spent the past two years backing up All-Star Cal Raleigh. They then traded top prospect Harry Ford to the Washington Nationals, signed seven-year veteran Andrew Knizner to a major league contract, and brought in a half-dozen backstops on minor-league contracts.
One of those minor-league contracts, however, was Garver, who returned to the Mariners on a much cheaper salary than the $12 million he made on average over the last two years. Garver and Knizner competed throughout camp, and familiarity carried the day, as the Mariners officially let Knizner go in their Wednesday spree of roster moves.
According to the official transactions log, Knizner was released on Wednesday, the day after being designated for assignment. Garver’s contract was selected, while pitcher Alex Hoppe was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. Three others — pitcher Bryce Miller and infielders J.P. Crawford and Miles Mastrobuoni — were placed on the injured list.
Knizner, 31, had the right to elect free agency if he did not make the opening day roster after signing a one-year, $1 million fully guaranteed contract in December. Seattle will now owe him the full balance of that deal, while Garver will earn $2.25 million as long as he appears in one major league game, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com.
Knizner went just 5-for-29 at the plate in Cactus League play and did not hit a home run, so he didn’t do himself a ton of favors with his play. Garver also had familiarity with most of the pitchers, having caught them over the last two years, and the Mariners are banking on him showing a bit more with the bat than the 85 OPS+ he carried over his first two Seattle campaigns.
Though Knizner had a choice to stay in Triple-A with the Mariners, there are enough teams with thin catching depth charts that it was worth exploring free agency for a time. Where he lands next, we’ll just have to stay tuned to see.
More MLB: Blue Jays Sever Ties With 24-Year-Old Shortstop: Report
Read the full article here
