FILE PHOTO: Apr 19, 2022; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jon Gray (22) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Mariners’ greatest need entering the offseason has long been blatantly obvious: more impact bats.
Step one of that plan has been executed.
On Christmas Eve, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Seattle would be signing catcher/DH Mitch Garver to a two-year, $24 million deal (later details revealed a mutual option for a third year in 2026). It is the largest contract the team has handed to a free agent position player since Jerry Dipoto took over in 2016, surpassing AJ Pollock’s one-year, $7 million deal last winter.
Garver is expected to be the primary DH, seldomly seeing time behind the plate (if he sees any at all), as the Mariners will go with the catching tandem of Cal Raleigh and Seby Zavala. This is partly because of the various injuries Garver has endured over the years. He has played over 100 games just once in his seven-year career (103 games in 2018) and has not surpassed the 90-game threshold since 2019.
Many of those injuries stemmed from Garver’s work behind the plate, and because of that, the Mariners will ask him to strictly focus on his bat with the hope that such a focus will keep him on the field for close to a full season.
That said, when he can stay on the field, Garver is a force at the plate, which is exactly why Dipoto and crew were so interested in him. The righty slugger posted a 138 wRC+ in 2023, serving as a key contributor on the World Series champion Rangers. He deposited 19 home runs in 87 games with an .870 OPS.
Additionally, Garver will help to address a couple of Seattle’s biggest problems; the Mariners need to reach base more often and strike out less. He will not be J.P. Crawford with his strikeout rate (a.k.a. striking out less than 20% of the time), but he does not rack them up either. Garver typically punches out 23-24% of the time, a perfectly manageable mark, especially when factoring in his fantastic walk rate. He has walked at a 10% clip or higher in five of his seven seasons, including each of his last three, while drawing free passes 12.8% of the time in 2023.
While Garver had a bit of a down year in 2022 with just a .207/.298/.404 slash line and a 98 wRC+, he has been a catalyst at the plate in three of the last four full MLB seasons. He had a career year in 2019 with 31 bombs and a 155 wRC+ across 91 games, along with a 139 wRC+ in 2021.
