Mitch Garver joined the Yankees on a minor league deal earlier this month, and it was reported at the time that the contract contained an opt-out clause. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes that the opt-out provision is an assignment clause (or upward mobility clause) that Garver has now triggered, establishing a 2pm CT deadline on Monday for the next step of the catcher’s career.
The other 29 teams have until that deadline to let the Yankees know if they would put Garver on their active roster. If at least one team is willing to add Garver, the Yankees then have 48 hours to either add Garver to their own active roster or trade him to that interested team. (This type of deal is still allowed after the trade deadline since Garver hasn’t been on New York’s 40-man roster since signing his current minor league contract.) If no teams are willing to add Garver, he simply remains in the Yankees’ farm system.
Garver was the AL Silver Slugger winner with the 2019 Twins and a key part of the Rangers’ World Series team in 2023, but his numbers have sharply declined since that championship year. Since Opening Day 2024, Garver has hit only .185/.292/.333 with 28 homers over 869 plate appearances for the Mariners, including a .175/.302/.294 slash in 149 PA this year. The first two of those seasons were on a two-year, $24MM deal, and Seattle brought Garver back this season on a minors contract that earned him a guaranteed $2.25MM once he made the Opening Day roster.
A few weeks at the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre hasn’t done anything to spark Garver’s bat. He is hitting .179/.324/.214 over 34 plate appearances for SWB, without any home runs. Any interested teams would be looking more on Garver’s track record than his 2026 performance, or perhaps simply at the fact that it’s hard to add experienced backup catching at this late date in the baseball calendar. Adding Garver before September 1 would also give teams the ability to include him on a postseason roster.
New York could make the assignment clause irrelevant by simply adding Garver to its own active roster, which is something the team is “seriously contemplating,” as per Sherman. Unless the Yankees are willing to carry three catchers, selecting Garver would mean backup Ali Sanchez would have to be designated for assignment, since Sanchez is out of minor league options.
The Yankees rank 25th in catcher bWAR, as starter Austin Wells and backups Sanchez and J.C. Escarra (who is currently in the minors) have combined for just 0.4 bWAR. Wells has the most offensive upside of the group but is struggling through a brutal year at the plate. Defense is perhaps the key factor, as Sherman notes that “the Yankees put a lot of weight on framing” — Wells and Sanchez are both very good in this department, whereas Statcast ranks Garver as a below-average framer for the last three seasons.
