The Seattle Mariners could have simply re-signed Mitch Garver at the outset of the offseason. They instead chose chaos in their quest for a backup catcher, only to arrive the exact same endpoint.<\/p>\n
It’s official as of Sunday afternoon: Garver is back in as Cal Raleigh’s right-hand man<\/a>, which functionally leaves Andrew Knizner out. The Mariners are expected to designate Knizner for assignment, which will almost certainly mean eating his $1 million salary.<\/p>\n Granted, it’s not quite the same as saying goodbye to Mitch Haniger and then choking down $15.5 million<\/a>. And if even that didn’t ultimately keep the Mariners from pursuing midseason upgrades en route to their run to Game 7 of the ALCS, then $1 million in dead money shouldn’t derail any plans the club has for 2026.<\/p>\n Mariners put a strange twist on their offseason with ending of Mitch Garver saga<\/p>\n Even so, the Mariners’ calculations for their backup catcher gig clearly changed over the last month. When Knizner was the favorite for the job, it was set to be a $1 million expense. Now that he’s out and Garver is locked in at $2.25 million, it’s going to end up being a $3.25 million expense.<\/p>\n It brings back a question we were asking in January: Did the Mariners misread this winter’s catching market<\/a>?<\/p>\n Even setting aside whether they should have aimed higher in trading Harry Ford<\/a>, there’s the matter of whether the Mariners had the wrong projections for Garver’s market. Their $1 million deal with Knizner in December came off as an assumption that Garver would get better offers elsewhere. FanGraphs was notably in the same boat, pegging Garver for a one-year, $5 million deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n In actuality, Garver himself spoke of not getting any formal offers<\/a> before Raleigh dialed him up in February and suggested he call the Mariners. Less than 24 hours later, he was back aboard on a minor league deal.<\/p>\n “It was a strange offseason. I was fortunate to have Cal reach out to me.”<\/p>\n Mitch Garver credits a call from Cal Raleigh for helping finalize his deal with the Mariners. pic.twitter.com\/9bb9BnmPE5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) February 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Nobody got excited about the Garver signing at the time, and his re-ascension to the backup job is more so fodder for fascination than excitement. It is, after all, just a part-time gig for a guy who posted -0.2 rWAR for the Mariners across 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n Garver’s familiarity with Seattle’s pitching staff was surely the deciding factor in Sunday’s decision. And it is a nice feather in his cap, particularly to the extent that he’s perfectly suited for weekly action as George Kirby’s personal catcher<\/a>.<\/p>\n All’s well that ends well, we suppose, but this still feels like the Mariners having to pay a $1 million penalty for a bad read on the offseason market. Some might see that as reason to lower their offseason grade from an A+<\/a> to a mere A.<\/p>\n