Rockies Sign Andrew Knizner To Minor League Deal

The Rockies signed catcher Andrew Knizner to a minor league contract on Wednesday. Although the team didn’t announce the move, the 31-year-old jumped right into action tonight with Triple-A Albuquerque.

Knizner hit the market at the end of camp when he was released by the Mariners. He had signed a one-year, $1MM free agent deal with Seattle in December. Knizner surely felt he was the favorite to back up Cal Raleigh at the time, as he was the only other catcher on the M’s 40-man roster. They re-signed Mitch Garver on a minor league contract at the beginning of Spring Training.

Seattle opted to run it back with a Raleigh/Garver pairing. They also swung a trade for an optionable third catcher, Jhonny Pereda, in the interim. Knizner has over five years of service time, meaning he could refuse a minor league assignment while collecting his full salary. Rather than report to Triple-A Tacoma, he tested the market for a clearer path back to the big leagues.

That won’t come immediately, but there’s a decent chance he can play his way into an MLB look with Colorado. The Rox opted for light-hitting minor league signee Brett Sullivan as their backup catcher to begin the season. Third catcher Braxton Fulford still has a couple options remaining and has hit .221/.272/.354 in 41 big league contests. Hunter Goodman is going to be in the lineup almost every day, but no one has a firm hold on the backup job.

Knizner hasn’t provided much offensively at the MLB level either. He’s a career .211/.281/.316 hitter in just under 1000 plate appearances. The former seventh-round pick owns a much stronger .292/.387/.443 line over parts of four Triple-A campaigns. He’ll pair with Fulford behind the dish in Albuquerque with Kyle McCann on the injured list.