Morning Briefing: Mariners Ink Mitch Garver

Good morning, and merry Christmas, Mets fans!

The Mariners agreed to sign slugging righty Mitch Garver to a two-year contract worth $24 million. Garver played in 87 games for the Rangers in 2023, batting .270/.370/.500 (134 OPS+) with 19 homers in 344 plate appearances. Garver was productive in the postseason as well, cracking three homers and driving in 14 runs in 17 games. Most notably, Garver crushed a grand slam in Game 2 of the ALDS and opened the scoring in Game 5 of the World Series with an RBI single in the seventh inning. While he’s spent most of his years as a catcher, Garver got a bulk of his reps as the Rangers’ designated hitter this year, and will likely be Seattle’s primary DH with Cal Raleigh starting behind the plate.

Latest Mets News

The Mets agreed to a minor league contract with right-handed reliever Chad Smith. The 28-year-old has split time between the A’s and the Rockies in his career, posting a 7.11 ERA over 31 2/3 major league innings. He has a career ERA in the minor leagues of 4.49.

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Francys Romero of MLB.com reported Sunday that the Blue Jays, Pirates, Astros, and Yankees are still involved in the bidding for righty reliever Yariel Rodríguez. Romero notes that the teams likely won’t make a decision on Rodríguez until after Yoshinobu Yamamoto‘s contract is finalized. The 26-year-old dominated NPB in 2023, pitching to a 1.15 ERA while not allowing a single home run in 54 2/3 innings for the Chunichi Dragons.