Jacob Nottingham

The Mariners signed catcher Jacob Nottingham to a minor league contract earlier this month, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. This will be his fourth stint with the organization.

Nottingham is a true journeyman, having spent time in seven different MLB organizations throughout a professional career that spans more than a decade. He was drafted by the Astros, who traded him to the Athletics two years later as part of a package for starter Scott Kazmir. The following offseason, the A’s flipped him to the Brewers as part of the return for slugger Khris Davis.

It was with Milwaukee that Nottingham made his MLB debut. He played a handful of games for the Brewers every year between 2018-21, producing a respectable .770 OPS and 103 wRC+ in 99 trips to the plate. His seven home runs and .273 isolated power were particularly impressive, especially for a catcher. On the other side of the ball, he appeared in 36 games behind the dish, compiling 2 Defensive Runs Saved and a +2 Fielding Run Value. Despite the tiny sample size, those defensive numbers were encouraging. Nottingham was always considered a bat-first catching prospect with serious questions about his defense behind the dish.

The backstop became a Mariner in April 2021, although his first stint with the club was short-lived. Seattle claimed Nottingham off of waivers on April 28 only to designate him for assignment and trade him back to Milwaukee on May 2. However, the M’s claimed him again a couple of weeks later, and this time, he stuck around in the organization for the rest of the season. He appeared in 10 games with the Mariners, though he only appeared as a first baseman, designated hitter, and pinch hitter – never as a catcher. Unfortunately, Nottingham performed poorly, going 3-for-26 with 12 strikeouts. He spent most of the rest of the 2021 season on the injured list at Triple-A.

Nottingham has not made it back to the majors since 2021. From 2022-23, he played in the minors with the Orioles, Mariners, Giants, and Nationals, putting up a .745 OPS and a 91 wRC+. He then spent the 2024 campaign playing in the Mexican League. He will now return to affiliated ball, re-joining an organization that clearly likes what he brings to the table. In his age-30 season, Nottingham can provide catching depth for Seattle behind Cal Raleigh, Mitch Garver, Nick Raposo, and top prospect Harry Ford. The Mariners are known to be seeking a right-handed bat this winter, and Nottingham offers depth in that area as well.

The Mariners are signing catcher Jacob Nottingham to a minor league contract, according to his MLB.com transactions tracker. The right-handed hitter also spent part of the 2021 campaign in Seattle.

Nottingham played in the majors each season from 2018-21. He spent most of that time as a member of the Brewers, working as a bat-first depth catcher for his first few seasons. Nottingham exhausted his minor league option years by 2021, requiring teams to keep him on the MLB roster or make him available to other organizations. That led to a shuffle between Milwaukee and Seattle teams that each valued him as a depth catcher.

Within a one-month span early in that season, Nottingham yo-yoed between the two clubs. He went from Milwaukee to Seattle on waivers, was reacquired by the Brew Crew for cash a week and a half later, then landed back in Seattle on waivers a couple weeks thereafter. The series of transactions even partially inspired a change in the newest collective bargaining agreement; now, teams move to the back of the waiver priority on a player if they’ve already claimed him once before in that season.

Nottingham again found himself on the wire in early June 2021 after being designated for assignment by the Mariners. He cleared that time around and hasn’t played in the majors since then. He spent the remainder of that season in Triple-A and inked a minor league deal with the Orioles last winter. Nottingham spent the entire 2022 season with the O’s top affiliate in Norfolk, where he hit .229/.333/.425 through 354 plate appearances. He connected on 15 home runs while walking at a robust 10.5% clip but struck out in an elevated 27.7% of his trips.

The 27-year-old has shown a similar profile throughout his entire career. He’s a .250/.330/.412 hitter in parts of nine minor league seasons, showing decent power and patience but striking out at a 25.6% clip. Punchouts have also been a problem in his limited MLB looks, as he’s gone down on strikes in 38.5% of his 130 big league plate appearances. He’s a .184/.277/.421 hitter at the highest level.

Seattle has the duo of Cal Raleigh and Tom Murphy to serve as their catchers this year. Nottingham adds some upper level depth who won’t require an immediate 40-man roster spot, presumably heading to Triple-A Tacoma to open the season.

The Mariners announced Tuesday that they have once again designated catcher Jacob Nottingham for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to outfielder Dillon Thomas, whose promotion to the big leagues was reported earlier this morning.

It’s the latest in a staggering series of transactions for Nottingham, who has spent the past several seasons with the Brewers organization and recently begun to be ping-ponged back and forth between Seattle and Milwaukee. A quick rundown of Nottingham’s bizarre timeline leading up to today’s DFA:

• April 22: Brewers designate Nottingham for assignment
• April 28: Mariners claim Nottingham of waivers
• May 1: Mariners designate Nottingham for assignment
• May 2: Brewers reacquire Nottingham in exchange for cash
• May 20: Mariners re-claim Nottingham off waivers

It remains to be seen if the Brewers will take another run at Nottingham, if he’ll land with another club or, perhaps, if he might finally clear waivers. The Mariners will have a week to gauge trade interest in the catcher or once again attempt to pass him through outright waivers. He’s out of minor league options, so any team that claims or acquires Nottingham will have to carry him on its MLB roster.

On the one hand, Nottingham is surely grateful to be in demand by at least these two teams. He gets Major League service time and Major League pay for any time spent in DFA limbo, so he’s at least being well compensated for the increasingly ridiculous tug-of-war the two teams are playing over him. On the other hand, it’s difficult for any player to bounce back and forth this much. Family considerations, housing, Covid protocols and myriad other factors come into play every time he changes teams.

Nottingham was once a catching prospect of some note, although he’s yet to receive any sort of regular playing time in the Majors. (Clearly, this year’s sequence isn’t helping.) He’s a career .250/.326/.421 hitter in 528 Triple-A plate appearances but has managed a more tepid .184/.277/.421 slash in a small sample of 130 plate appearances in the Majors. He homered twice in his 2021 debut with the Brewers and has also connected on a long ball in Seattle, but Nottingham’s 45 plate appearances in this strange season have resulted in a .150/.222/.400 output.