Mariners veteran is making things complicated for Jerry Dipoto (in a good way)

Could Seattle be suffering from success?
Seattle Mariners v Chicago Cubs
Seattle Mariners v Chicago Cubs | Geoff Stellfox/GettyImages

For the most part, teams are happy when a player has a bounceback season. They're even happier when that player is on the higher end of the team's payroll and is finally meeting his pre-contract expectations.

Mitch Garver was one of the least valuable players on the Seattle Mariners last year, posting an 85 OPS+ with a slash line of .172/.286/.341 over 430 plate appearances, the majority of which were as the team's designated hitter. He did all of this while carrying a $10.5 million salary, making him the fifth-highest paid player on the team.

This year, Garver's salary jumped up to $12.5 million, pushing him to the third-highest salary on the payroll, and he wasn't expected to be much more than a financial liability. Luckily, he seems to have turned over a new leaf.

Mitch Garver's suddenly warm bat is complicating things for the Mariners

Despite a rough start, Garver's numbers for 2025 are a big step forward, climbing to a 101 OPS+ for the season. More importantly, he's starting to hit a real stride. His .886 OPS for the month of June was the fourth-best mark of anyone on the team and at long last, he looks like the slugger he was in Texas.

As mentioned earlier, this would be all well and good in most situations. However, this creates even more of an obstacle for top catching prospect Harry Ford, who has been patiently waiting in the wings all year. He was on the cusp of being called up following a potentially serious injury to Garver but ultimately nothing came of it, sending him back to Triple-A Tacoma.

The future for Ford within the Mariners organization has remained unclear for quite some time. Given Cal Raleigh's extension and unstoppable presence at the plate, Ford seems destined to spend his athletic prime as a backup to the best catcher in baseball should he stick around in the Mariners organization. Would that be a waste of service time that could instead maximize his value as a trade piece heading into this year's deadline? Probably, which is why Seattle has been so seemingly gun-shy about allowing him to debut.

Since there's already a logjam of backstops in Seattle and other front offices have already expressed interest in his talents, the recent success of Garver and his increased viability as a backup option may have all but sealed Ford's fate. Still, his value as a prospect won't go to waste as he could end up bringing in the big league pieces necessary for the Mariners to make their long-awaited return to the postseason.