"Catcher" Mitch Garver Sets Sail to Seattle

The FanGraphs Newsletter, January 2, 2024 [READ IN BROWSER]( January 2, 2024 The Mariners have made their first significant upgrade of the offseason, inking Mitch Garver to a two-year deal worth $24 million. Formerly a member of the Twins and Rangers, the soon-to-be 33-year-old Garver first made a name for himself in the peak of the juiced ball era, clubbing 31 homers in just 93 games while slugging .630 in his 2019 campaign. He hasn’t reached such heights since, but Garver has remained an offensive threat, even as he’s struggled to stay healthy and demonstrate his prowess over a full season. Let’s take a look at the best-hitting catchers of 2023. In the modern era of lower catcher workloads and backstops moonlighting at first base, DH, and even in the outfield, you can define “best-hitting catcher” in many ways. But for now, I’ll just use primary catchers as defined by our leaderboards: On the surface, Garver was the best offensive catcher in the league, along with former teammate Ryan Jeffers, who broke out in his first season as Minnesota’s “primary” backstop (his 82 starts behind the plate were barely a majority). But it would be disingenuous for us to keep referring to Garver as a catcher, because there are a few reasons Garver won’t be doing all that much catching in Seattle. [Read More]( [Yankee Swap! Flawed, Revamped Estevan Florial Dealt to Guardians for Oft-Injured Cody Morris]( Both teams dealt from positions of depth in the pitcher/outfielder swap. | by Eric Longenhagen [Braves Continue Trade-Happy Offseason with Chris Sale Acquisition]( Wait, [insert team name here] did what?! | by Ben Clemens [2024 ZiPS Projections: St. Louis Cardinals]( Will the Cardinals be able to reclaim their status as baseball's best Good Enough team? | by Dan Szymborski [Best of 2023: We May Never Find Out How Good Umpires Can Be]( Umpires are still getting better at calling balls and strikes, but before they can reach their ceiling, the robots will likely take matters into their own metal hands. | by Davy Andrews [Best of 2023: Tom McNamara Looks Back at the Seattle Mariners' 2012 Draft]( Seattle's then-scouting director addresses some coulda-woulda-shoulda scenarios. | by David Laurila 📌 [Permanent link to FanGraphs Is Hiring! Seeking a Full-Time Associate Editor]( Is Hiring! Seeking a Full-Time Associate Editor 🎧 [Effectively Wild Episode 2105: The Stories We Missed in 2023]( [DOWNLOAD THE FANGRAPHS APP]( [FanGraphs & Effectively Wild Merch Is Now Available at BreakingT!]( [ORDER HERE]( [A stroke took Charlie Manuel’s words away. Baseball is giving them back]( by Matt Gelb, The Athletic ($) [MLB free agency reset: Moves we liked, ones we didn't, what's next]( via ESPN [Power Rankings: Who's on top to begin 2024?]( by Will Leitch, MLB [Checking in on the Braves’ rotation after the Chris Sale trade]( by Kris Willis, Batter Power [@fangraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [RSS]( [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2024 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 1200 N Hartford St. Apt 312Arlington, Va 22201 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](