The Seattle Mariners signed catcher Andrew Knizner to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
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MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer reported the deal is worth $1 million.
Knizner is heading into his eighth pro season. The 30-year-old backstop spent 2025 with San Francisco Giants backing up defensive standout Patrick Bailey. In 33 games after being called up from Triple-A in June, Knizner hit .221 with a .299 on-base percentage, .299 slugging percentage, one home run, five RBIs, seven walks and 10 strikeouts over 88 plate appearances. He was non-tendered by San Francisco after the season.
Knizner has played 323 games across seven seasons with the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers. He has a career .211 average with a .281 on-base percentage, .316 slugging percentage, .596 OPS, 19 home runs and 90 RBIs. He has also spent time in the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks organizations.
A native of Glen Allen, Virginia, Knizner has graded as a slightly above-average pitch framer over the past two seasons with a combined plus-three catcher framing runs over 68 MLB games.
His best season offensively came with the Cardinals in 2023 when he hit .241 with a .712 OPS, 10 homers and 31 RBIs in 70 games.
Knizner’s signing comes after Seattle traded presumed backup catcher Harry Ford to the Washington Nationals earlier this month. Knizner
now figures to be the backup for American League MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, whose 60 home runs in 2025 were an MLB record for catchers and switch-hitters.
The Mariners now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.
