When the Seattle Mariners acquired hard-throwing reliever Jose Ferrer on Saturday afternoon for top prospect Harry Ford, they did two things:

1) They acquired a much-needed leverage arm, and a complement to lefty Gabe Speier.

2) They left themselves without a backup catcher for the 2026 season.

According to Adam Jude of the Seattle Times after the deal, the Mariners are open to bringing back Mitch Garver in that role, who spent the last two years with the organization.

The Garver file

On the surface, most fans won't be thrilled at the idea of bringing back Garver, who hit just .187 with 24 home runs in those two seasons, however, there are some positive things to remember.

1) Garver's previous deal was for $12 million a season, which made his lack of productivity frustrating. This deal would be for considerably less, making it more in line with other backup catchers.

2) Garver remains a useful player against left-handed pitching, as he posted a .718 OPS against southpaws in 2025. He had five home runs against them as well. And just for good measure, he had a crucial sac fly against Tarik Skubal in Game 5 of the American League Division Series, which the M's eventually won.

3) Garver also knows the pitching staff, and that's important. Regardless of what the M's do this offseason, they will be led by their arms again in 2026. Having comfort between all pitchers and all catchers matters.

Additional optimism

MLBTradeRumors provided the following on Saturday night:

At this point, any signing team would have to hope for an offensive rebound. That said, there are some encouraging signs in Garver’s offensive profile. He posted a hard-hit rate of 46.9% in 2025, a full six points above the league average of 40.9%. He also brought up his average exit velocity to 91.5 mph after sitting at 89.9 mph in 2024. For Garver, the key will be boosting his performance against four-seam fastballs. He posted a 163 wRC+ against the pitch in 2024 but just a 77 wRC+ against four-seamers this year. Some decline is natural for a player of his age, though it’s also fair to expect positive regression given his track record.

Other backup catchers available

If not Garver, there are intriguing options on the market including Victor Caratini, Jonah Heim, Christian Vazquez, Danny Jansen, Gary Sanchez and Tom Murphy.

Heim likely wants to find a starting job somewhere, making him more of a longshot, but the others are possibilities. 

Up next

The winter meetings begin on Sunday night. After acquiring Ferrer, it's unclear if the M's have anything big up their sleeves between now and their conclusion, but with Ferrer and Josh Naylor in the fold, the offseason is off to a good start.

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