ANALYSIS: Harry Ford Might Be Untouchable Prospect After Mitch Garver Injury Scare
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PEORIA, Ariz. — Mitch Garver's spring training could be the opening to one of the best redemption stories on the Seattle Mariners in 2025.
Before 2024 began, Garver signed the largest contract with the Mariners by a free agent position player in the Jerry Dipoto era (two years, $24 million). He ended up having one of the worst years of his career and hit .172 with 15 homers and 51 RBIs in a designated hitter/backup catcher role.
Garver acknowledged his down season and came into spring training stronger and leaner, with a new batting stance and a bounce back season in mind. As of Tuesday, he was hitting .444 (8-for-18) with three home runs and six RBIs.
And it almost came crashing down with one pitch.
Garver was hit by a pitch in the right hand/wrist area by Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Kaleb Bowman in a game on Monday. Garver exited the game, but x-rays on his hand reportedly came back negative.
That's good news for Garver and Seattle. But it also raises a few alarms.
Garver will likely be one of the team's go-to designated hitters in 2025. And if he's capable of returning to form, he'll be an excellent backup to starting catcher Cal Raleigh. But the injury scare highlights the lack of depth the Mariners have at the position.
With the current roster, Blake Hunt would likely be the third-string catcher. Hunt is on his second stint with Seattle and is having a solid spring in his own right, but has never played in the majors.
And that might make Harry Ford as close to an untouchable prospect as possible.
Ford has been stuck in no-man's land for over a year. He's a two-time MLB All-Star Futures Game participant, is a near-universal top 100 prospect (No. 64 MLB Pipeline, No. 95 Baseball America). But Raleigh is arguably the best in baseball at his position and Garver is under contract for one, possibly two more years (mutual option 2026). That's created a road block on Ford's route to the majors.
This helped spawn trade speculation involving Ford at the 2024 deadline. There's no solid reports on whether or not Ford was actively shopped, but either way, he's likely on team's radars now.
Ford is hitting .571 (8-for-15) with a home run, five RBIs and three steals so far in spring training.
Harry Ford's RBI double in the seventh inning pic.twitter.com/73pyTDrg4f
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) March 10, 2025
Seattle won't waste a call-up on Ford being a third-string or emergency catcher. But the organization should be very hesitant on any potential deal involving him.
Garver's $12 million mutual option for 2026 could be invoked if he has a bounce back season. But it's hard to imagine the Mariners willing to spend that kind of money given their history and Garver's age (34 years-old).
It is spring training and Ford's caliber of play has to be taken with a grain of salt. But if the Mariners need a designated hitter/backup catcher in 2026, Ford makes the most sense. If either Raleigh or Garver go down with a sustained injury, Ford should be the answer.
Seattle has several players considered better prospects who media and fans would emphasize keeping over Ford should a trade come around. But the team's construction, and how quickly things can go wrong (as seen Monday), makes Ford's valuable incredibly high for the Mariners.
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