The Mariners have claimed catcher Nick Raposo off waivers from the Blue Jays, MLBTR has discovered. The latter membership designated him for task final week. The Mariners had 40-man roster vacancies and didn’t must make a corresponding transfer.
Raposo, 27 in June, nonetheless hasn’t made his main league debut. The Cardinals added him to their 40-man roster in June when each Willson Contreras and Iván Herrera had been on the injured listing, however Contreras was reinstated a number of days later. Raposo was optioned to the minors with out getting right into a sport. He was designated for task in July when the Playing cards added Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham in a deal simply earlier than the deadline. He was claimed by the Jays and caught on their roster till final week, getting designated for task once more when Toronto signed Yimi García.
Over the previous 4 years, Raposo has taken 808 plate appearances within the minors. He has a mixed batting line of .241/.321/.387 in that point, which interprets to a wRC+ of 85. Baseball Prospectus has typically given him strong marks for his blocking and throwing within the minors.
The Mariners solely actually have one correct catcher on the 40-man roster proper now in Cal Raleigh. In addition they have Mitch Garver, who they signed final offseason with the concept of utilizing him as a full-time designated hitter. That plan didn’t work out as Garver struggled with the bat in 2024, so the M’s did finally put him behind the plate a number of instances, both to attempt to extract some worth from him or with the hope that returning to catching would in some way assist get again in a groove offensively. Seby Zavala was the third backstop to play for the M’s in 2024 however he was outrighted off the roster in September and signed a minor league take care of the Crimson Sox final month.
It’s unclear how the M’s plan to deal with their catching scenario in 2025, aside from Raleigh being the plain mainstay. If Garver is the backup, then Raposo can function an optionable depth piece in Triple-A. If Garver goes to be closely within the DH combine, Raposo may battle for the backup job. The character of that battle will rely on who else the M’s herald, whether or not that’s veterans on non-roster offers or maybe different waiver claims akin to this one.