Mariners Spring Catcher Castoff Suddenly Has a New Opportunity With Rockies

Andrew Knizner did not stay unemployed for very long, which probably tells you all you need to know about how these things work. A veteran catcher with real major league experience hits the market in late March, and a team with a shaky depth chart starts squinting at the situation and talking itself into a low-risk flier. This time, that team is Colorado, which signed the former Mariners spring training catcher to a minor league deal after Seattle moved on at the end of camp.

From a Mariners perspective, this doesn’t come as a shocking twist. It’s more like a quick reminder that Seattle’s catching decision was never really about Knizner being useless. It was about the Mariners deciding they were more comfortable running it back with Cal Raleigh and Mitch Garver, then adding Jhonny Pereda as optionable depth behind them. Knizner signed with Seattle in December on a one-year, $1 million deal and looked like the obvious favorite for the backup job at the time, especially because he was already on the forty-man roster. Then Garver came back on a minor league deal, won the job, and Knizner’s runway disappeared in a hurry.

Mariners Spring Catcher Andrew Knizner Suddenly Lands With Rockies

That is at least mildly interesting for Mariners fans. Knizner was brought in for a reason. The team clearly saw him as a credible answer behind Raleigh after moving through a winter where catching depth mattered a little more than usual. But once Garver re-entered the picture, the whole thing changed. Raleigh had a comfort level there, the front office clearly valued continuity, and Knizner became the odd man out before the season even got going.

That’s a fair call even if it looked a little awkward from the outside. The Mariners do not need backup catcher drama. Garver, for all the frustration around his recent offensive production, at least gave them a known quantity in the room and a player Raleigh reportedly wanted back in the mix.

So now he lands with the Rockies, which feels like a very Rockies move in the most neutral possible sense. Colorado’s big league catching situation is not exactly overflowing with certainty, and there is at least a plausible opening there if Knizner hits enough at Triple-A Albuquerque to force the issue.

More than anything, this is one of those small spring stories that confirms how quickly roster plans can change. In December, Knizner looked like the likely backup. By late March, he was off the roster. By early April, he had a new organization. Baseball does that all the time.