I say ride Garver as backup til he gets injured, DFA'd, or actually proves he's an MLB DH.
It's risky since Zavala is a free agent. I guess M's back-fill Tacoma catchers to step up if Garver gets hurt?
'25 M's are in a terrible way: flushed $30 mil for 2 X 30+ y.o. "Mitches" w/combined minus 1 fWAR.
And maybe re-sign 40+ y.o. Justin Turner to show "superstar" Julio & co. how to take balls & swing at strikes?
Look at the offensive quality of the rest of the 40-man roster. Except for the retooled OF trio & Cal, where are the "every-day guys"??? It's mostly utility & platoon hitters unable to be high-WAR MLB full-timers. But M's had to use them as every day guys and came in 2nd as usual.
With $30 mil already burnt, is any money left for a 1st tier IF and at least one other "better than Polanco" IF?
The search continues for the 2025 fading retread 2B "due for a bounce back". How about JP?
JP is and always should have been M's 2B; if M's had loosened up to sign Corey Seager or other 1st tier FA SS available that same year.
The saying goes "ya buy cheap, ya get cheap".
Based on ownership refusal to spend for 1st tier position players, Dipoto/Hollander are forced to "reach" & "project" (like Garver's mythical projected full season DH), or pick up 1st tier team discards, like Turner.
The game is always unpredictable, hopefully so in a more positive sense for the '25 M's.
But the failure & hangover of '24 off-season moves into '25 looms large. 1st tier teams, have 1st tier budgets and spend themselves out of the unexpected; Mets, Yanks, Dodgers, Phils, etc.
What do you do with Garver? He's way too expensive at $12M to be a backup catcher, but you're paying that almost no matter what. Might as well try to get something out of him (I'm hopeful he'll be better than 2024). Sign a catcher or two to minor league deals and keep them stashed, yes, but are they going to be better than Garver, esp if you have to eat all/most of that 12M?
especially considering the volume of work — 263 games caught over the last two seasons — a major injury seems almost overdue. he’s penciled in for 2025 and you’re right to point out that it’s a major concern he doesn’t have much support.
I say ride Garver as backup til he gets injured, DFA'd, or actually proves he's an MLB DH.
It's risky since Zavala is a free agent. I guess M's back-fill Tacoma catchers to step up if Garver gets hurt?
'25 M's are in a terrible way: flushed $30 mil for 2 X 30+ y.o. "Mitches" w/combined minus 1 fWAR.
And maybe re-sign 40+ y.o. Justin Turner to show "superstar" Julio & co. how to take balls & swing at strikes?
Look at the offensive quality of the rest of the 40-man roster. Except for the retooled OF trio & Cal, where are the "every-day guys"??? It's mostly utility & platoon hitters unable to be high-WAR MLB full-timers. But M's had to use them as every day guys and came in 2nd as usual.
With $30 mil already burnt, is any money left for a 1st tier IF and at least one other "better than Polanco" IF?
The search continues for the 2025 fading retread 2B "due for a bounce back". How about JP?
JP is and always should have been M's 2B; if M's had loosened up to sign Corey Seager or other 1st tier FA SS available that same year.
The saying goes "ya buy cheap, ya get cheap".
Based on ownership refusal to spend for 1st tier position players, Dipoto/Hollander are forced to "reach" & "project" (like Garver's mythical projected full season DH), or pick up 1st tier team discards, like Turner.
The game is always unpredictable, hopefully so in a more positive sense for the '25 M's.
But the failure & hangover of '24 off-season moves into '25 looms large. 1st tier teams, have 1st tier budgets and spend themselves out of the unexpected; Mets, Yanks, Dodgers, Phils, etc.
That's not the M's, sorry to say.
What do you do with Garver? He's way too expensive at $12M to be a backup catcher, but you're paying that almost no matter what. Might as well try to get something out of him (I'm hopeful he'll be better than 2024). Sign a catcher or two to minor league deals and keep them stashed, yes, but are they going to be better than Garver, esp if you have to eat all/most of that 12M?
especially considering the volume of work — 263 games caught over the last two seasons — a major injury seems almost overdue. he’s penciled in for 2025 and you’re right to point out that it’s a major concern he doesn’t have much support.