The Marlins are in agreement with catcher Rob Brantly on a minor league deal with an invite to MLB Spring Training, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The veteran returns to the organization with which he made his MLB debut more than a decade ago.
Brantly, now 35, was a Tigers draftee whom Detroit included in their 2012 deadline deal to acquire Aníbal Sánchez and Omar Infante from Miami. The Marlins called him up within a month of the trade. Brantly appeared in 98 games for the Fish, hitting .235/.298/.325 over 356 plate appearances. Miami lost him on waivers to the White Sox during the 2014-15 offseason.
That kicked off an extended career as a journeyman depth catcher. Brantly has appeared at the major league level in seven of the past 10 seasons. He hasn’t appeared in more than 14 big league games in any of those years. Brantly still has far more MLB experience with the Marlins than he does with any other team. He has appeared in 39 contests with five different teams since the end of the 2013 campaign.
Three of those games were last year as a member of the Rays. Brantly had a brief stint on Tampa Bay’s big league roster while starting catcher Ben Rortvedt was away attending to the birth of his child. He spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Durham, hitting .250/.316/.394 over 179 trips to the plate. Brantly is a .266/.324/.390 hitter over parts of 12 Triple-A seasons.
The Marlins have three catchers on their 40-man roster: Nick Fortes, Liam Hicks and Agustín Ramírez. Hicks is a Rule 5 pick out of the Rangers organization. Ramírez is a highly-regarded prospect who headlined last summer’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade return. Fortes is the only member of that trio who has played in the big leagues. Brantly brings a lot of experience to the upper minors. He could back up Ramírez at Triple-A Jacksonville to open the season.