The Mariners selected Garver's contract from Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday.
Garver re-signed with Seattle as a non-roster invitee after camp opened and beat out Jhonny Pereda and Andrew Knizner for the backup catcher job. The 35-year-old will see some starts at catcher on days Cal Raleigh serves as the designated hitter, but Garver's playing time should be fairly limited.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Set to win No. 2 job
Rotowire
Garver is expected to begin the season as Seattle's No. 2 catcher, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.
The 35-year-old re-signed with the Mariners as a non-roster invitee in February and will once again served as the backup catcher to Cal Raleigh. Garver still needs to be added to the big-league roster, but the club isn't expected to finalize the roster until Wednesday. During the 2025 regular season, Garver clubbed nine homers and produced a .640 OPS over 87 games.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Inks minor-league deal with Seattle
Rotowire
The Mariners signed Garver to a minor-league contract Wednesday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
Garver spent the last two seasons with the Mariners serving as the team's backup catcher to Cal Raleigh. Garver will get a chance to reprise that role for the 2026 campaign, and he'll face competition from Jhonny Pereda and Andrew Knizner in spring training. Garver appeared in 87 regular-season games for Seattle in 2025 and slashed .209/.297/.343 with three steals, nine home runs and 30 RBI across 290 plate appearances.
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Mitch Garver: Mutual option declined
Rotowire
Garver will become a free agent after the Mariners declined the $12 million mutual option in his contract Sunday.
Garver will be paid a $1 million buyout and enter the free-agent market. The 34-year-old slashed only .187/.290/.341 across 201 regular-season games during his two seasons in Seattle. Garver is a career .255/.358/.474 hitter against left-handed pitching, so he should be able to land a job as a short-side platoon bat this winter.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Added to Thursday's lineup
Rotowire
Garver will start at catcher and hit eighth in Thursday's game against the Rockies.
Garver wasn't in the Mariners' original lineup, but Leo Rivas was scratched for undisclosed reasons. The team shifted its defensive alignment, with Garver being the new addition to the lineup for his first start in the last three games.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Restores lead with homer
Rotowire
Garver went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Friday's 2-1 win over the Angels.
The Angels tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning, but Garver restored the Mariners' lead in their half of the frame. This was his ninth homer of the year and his first since Aug. 18 versus the Phillies. The veteran catcher is at a .212/.301/.356 slash line with 29 RBI, 27 runs scored and three stolen bases over 269 plate appearances this season. Garver is seeing steady usage in a short-side platoon role between catcher and designated hitter.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Playing time on upswing
Rotowire
Garver will start at designated hitter and bat sixth in Sunday's game against the Athletics.
Garver will stay in the lineup for the fifth time in six games, but his uptick in playing time has mostly been a byproduct of Seattle facing five left-handed starting pitchers during that stretch. The 34-year-old is slashing just .179/.263/.274 with a 33.9 percent strikeout rate over 118 plate appearances versus righties this season, so he doesn't have much of a case to move outside of his current short-side platoon role.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Late add to lineup
Rotowire
Garver will DH and bat sixth in Friday's game against the Mets.
Garver was left off the first iteration of Seattle's lineup, but he'll step into the starting nine after Josh Naylor (undisclosed) was scratched. Garver is slashing .212/.301/.332 in 219 plate appearances this season.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Filling in for resting Raleigh
Rotowire
Garver will start at catcher and bat seventh in Thursday's game against the Orioles.
With star backstop Cal Raleigh getting a rare rest day as the Mariners conclude their series in Baltimore with a day game after a night game, Garver will receive a turn behind the plate. Since the All-Star break, Garver has struggled to get much going offensively while seeing inconsistent playing time, slashing just .184/.273/.289 with a home run and a 4:14 BB:K over 44 plate appearances.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Smacks homer in Friday's win
Rotowire
Garver went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 6-1 win over the Astros.
Garver has homered in back-to-back contests, and five of his six homers this season have come since June 20. He won't unseat Cal Raleigh as the starting catcher, but more consistency at the plate should allow Garver more looks as the designated hitter, particularly against southpaws. For the season, Garver is slashing .226/.314/.368 with 22 RBI, 16 runs scored and three stolen bases over 175 plate appearances.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Crushes fifth homer in win
Rotowire
Garver went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Sunday's 8-4 win over Detroit.
The 34-year-old veteran backstop got a rare start at catcher to give All-Star Cal Raleigh a respite behind the plate, launching his fifth homer of the campaign. As long as Raleigh is healthy, Garver is likely to continue seeing sparse playing time, even as a designated hitter. Garver has struggled to find a groove, slashing just .219/.310/.344 with four doubles and 21 RBI across 171 plate appearances.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Plates four in extra-innings win
Rotowire
Garver went 3-for-5 with a two-run home run and two RBI singles during Sunday's 6-4 win over the Rangers in 12 innings.
Garver didn't have a single game with more than two RBI until June 20, when he drove in five. He exceeded the two RBI mark again Sunday, logging an RBI single in the sixth and 10th innings and tagging Cole Winn for a two-run homer in the 12th frame. Garver is 10-for-31 (.323) with three home runs and two doubles during his last eight games
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Back in action Sunday
Rotowire
Garver (jaw) is starting behind the plate and batting seventh Sunday against the Rangers.
Garver hasn't seen the field since Thursday when he suffered a jaw injury on a foul tip, but he's ready to rejoin the lineup. The 34-year-old has seen sporadic playing time in June behind Cal Raleigh, but he's been productive when called upon with two homers and an .830 OPS in eight games.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: No structural damage
Rotowire
Garver (jaw) didn't sustain any structural damage after being hit in the face by a ball Thursday, Tim Booth of The Seattle Times reports.
Garver exited Thursday's game against Minnesota, but he's feeling better and didn't suffer any structural damage. He should be considered day-to-day going forward.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Exits early Thursday
Rotowire
Garver was removed from Thursday's contest against the Twins in the bottom of the fifth inning due to an apparent jaw injury, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports.
Garver was struck in the jaw by a foul ball while playing behind the plate versus Minnesota, ultimately forcing him to leave the game. Cal Raleigh took over at catcher after starting at designated hitter, which resulted in the Mariners losing the DH for the rest of the game. More information on Garver's status will likely be provided in the near future.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Homers twice in win
Rotowire
Garver went 2-for-4 with two home runs, five RBI and a walk in Friday's 9-4 win over the Cubs.
Garver entered Friday with just one home run on the year but went deep in both the sixth and ninth innings. The 34-year-old is now 6-for-23 with six RBI through six June contests and carries a modest five-game hitting streak. On the season, he's slashing .216/.321/.319 with three homers, 16 RBI, 12 runs scored and three steals across 134 plate appearances while serving in a part-time role at catcher and designated hitter.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Rare start at catcher Saturday
Rotowire
Garver went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Houston.
It was just Garver's fourth start at catcher in 16 appearances during the month of May, as he's yet to carve out a steady role in the field this season. The veteran backstop has operated mostly as a pinch hitter in 2025, batting .264 (14-for-63) with one homer, one double, eight RBI and seven runs scored over his last 22 games. Cal Raleigh has played each of Seattle's first 51 games, so Garver doesn't have a clear pathway to playing time even with Luke Raley (oblique) on the injured list.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Extends on-base streak
Rotowire
Garver went 0-for-2 with a run scored and two walks in Wednesday's 9-3 win over the Angels.
The veteran slugger made his ninth start at catcher this season, giving primary backstop Cal Raleigh a break behind the plate while he served as the designated hitter. Garver has reached base safely in seven consecutive appearances, during which he's batting .300 with one home run, six RBI, five walks and one stolen base over 20 at-bats. With Luke Raley (oblique) on the injured list, Garver is a candidate for an increase in playing time if the Mariners can find ways to get his bat into the lineup, whether it be at catcher, first base or as the DH.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Settling into part-time role
Rotowire
Garver went 0-for-2 with two walks in Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Giants.
Despite the release of Mitch Haniger during spring training, Garver has started just four of Seattle's first nine games of the season. Three of those have come at catcher, so that the Mariners could keep the big bat of Cal Raleigh in the lineup as the designated hitter. Garver is only 1-for-14 with three walks and five strikeouts in five appearances overall to begin the year, and the presence of Rowdy Tellez and Luke Raley will continue to limit his opportunities at DH.
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Mariners' Mitch Garver: Absent from Opening Day lineup
Rotowire
Garver is not in the lineup for Thursday's opener against the Athletics, Daniel Kramer of MLB.com reports.
Luke Raley is getting the start at designated hitter and Rowdy Tellez is at first base as the A's send right-hander Luis Severino to the bump. Garver will be the Mariners' regular DH versus lefties and should play some against righties, too, but he'll begin Opening Day on the bench.
