The Yankees and catcher Mitch Garver have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Ted Schwerzler of minnesotasportsfan.com. Garver will join Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The deal has an opt-out later this month.
Garver, 35, began the year with the Mariners but he was released earlier this week. Serving as the backup to Cal Raleigh, he produced a .175/.302/.294 line in 149 plate appearances. His 14.8% walk rate in that time was great but he also struck out at a 32.9% pace. Garver isn’t a strong defender behind the plate and really needs to hit to be a useful player.
That has been the case at times. From 2019 to 2023, he stepped to the plate 1,242 times and hit 75 home runs with an 11.8% walk rate. His 26.6% strikeout rate in that span was a bit high but his .250/.346/.508 line was tremendous production for any position. His 131 wRC+ for that span indicated he was 31% better than the league average hitter. Considering catchers are usually about ten points below other hitters, it makes it even more impressive.
However, Garver is now a few years removed from that kind of performance. Dating back to the start of 2024, he has a .185/.292/.333 line over 869 plate appearances. He had to settle for a minor league deal with Seattle to start this year. He did crack the roster but, as mentioned, got released after a few months of subpar hitting.
The Yankees were connected to catchers for weeks ahead of the trade deadline, particularly right-handed hitters. It once seemed as though acquiring Ryan Jeffers from the Twins would be a lock. However, the Twins decided not to sell at the deadline. They held their regulars, including Jeffers, and did a bit of buying. The Yankees could have pivoted to other options, such as Tyler Stephenson of the Reds, but ultimately came away empty-handed.
The pursuit was related to the struggles of Austin Wells. He was a solid regular for the Yanks in 2024 and 2025 but is having a down season at the plate, hitting .169/.268/.289. His .200 batting average on balls in play is playing a role there but general manager Brian Cashman publicly acknowledged that the position has become an issue.
Despite that, the Yanks reportedly still felt strongly about the other facets of Wells’s game. They intended to keep him in the mix but were hoping to get a righty-hitting complement, as he’s a lefty hitter and his offensive woes have been even worse without the platoon advantage.
Since they didn’t acquire anyone at the deadline, Ali Sánchez is still in that role. He has a serviceable .268/.300/.357 line with solid framing marks and competent defense apart from that. He only has 82 big league games under his belt, so the Yanks could decide to pivot to Garver at some point, or just hold him as depth to cover for a potential Sánchez injury. Garver’s longer track record includes traditional platoon splits. Even while generally struggling this year, he has a .222/.344/.315 line and 101 wRC+ against southpaws.
Photo courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images
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