By Ryan Divish
The Seattle Times
PEORIA, Ariz. — Even though they are a week and a half into spring training, the Mariners are still looking to acquire players as they prepare for the 2019 season.
This isn’t indicative of things they’ve seen in the first handful of workouts. These were areas they felt they needed to address going into spring training via free agency. But given the late market for free agents and many veterans still hoping to sign major league contracts instead of minor league deals, they haven’t been able to add those players.
The main priority is finding another right-handed hitting catcher to serve as a backup/platoon mate with Omar Narvaez. The left-handed hitting Narvaez would be the primary catcher, but the Mariners would like to add a veteran catcher that swings right-handed and is also a plus defender. Narvaez’s defense is a work in progress.
David Freitas is the only other catcher on the Mariners’ 40-man roster. He is a right-handed hitter and played in 36 games for the Mariners last season, posting a .215/.277/.312 slash line (batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage) with six doubles, a homer and five RBI. He’s not a huge offensive presence and a capable, but not above average, defensive catcher. The Mariners would like to add another catcher, which would put Freitas and veteran Jose Lobaton, who is in camp on a minor league contact and a left-handed hitter, in Class AAA Tacoma.
Jon Heyman of Fancred and the MLB Network tweeted that the Mariners have recently been in contact with free agent catcher Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado, 32, is player that the Mariners had discussed before spring training. He’s a right-handed hitter and a plus defender, having won the Gold Glove in 2017 with the Angels. The Mariners are familiar with his skills from his time in the American League West. Anaheim traded Maldonado to the Astros midway through last season. He isn’t much of a threat on offense — a career .220 batting average and .639 on-base plus slugging percentage — but would serve as an upgrade on defense.
If the Mariners were to acquire him, he’d also be potential trade chip at midseason for teams desperate for catching defense. Though the return would likely be minimal.
Sources in the organization indicated that the Mariners would prefer to bring in a backup catcher candidate on a split minor league/major league contract, giving them some flexibility early in the season. But MLB sources said that Maldonado was holding out hope for the protection of a full major league guarantee.
The last few veteran catchers who have signed as backups — Nick Hundley with the A’s, Jesus Sucre with Orioles, Rene Rivera with the Giants — all agreed to minor league deals. Caleb Joseph was the exception, getting a $1.1 million contract from the Diamondbacks. Of the 25-plus big league catchers available in free agency, only 10 got full MLB contracts, the rest all signed minor league or split contracts. Maldonado and Matt Wieters are the two most notable catchers still available.
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