More than a decade later, Rob Brantly back with the Marlins (yes, he's still playing)

[Ely Sussman]

Brantly played 98 MLB games with Miami from 2012-2013. He has played only 40 total games in the majors since then, but teams continue to value him as organizational depth.

Shams Charania did not get hacked when breaking the Luka Dončić trade news and neither did MLB.com's Christina De Nicola when reporting Tuesday night that the Miami Marlins have signed journeyman catcher Rob Brantly to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to spring training. Difficult as it is to believe, yes, Brantly is still an active player all these years later.

Brantly was previously in the Marlins org for two-and-a-half years, acquired from the Detroit Tigers in a 2012 midsummer trade along with Brian Flynn and Jacob Turner in exchange for Omar Infante and Aníbal Sánchez. He debuted in the majors shortly after being acquired, split time behind the plate with Jeff Mathis in 2013 and was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox during the 2014-15 offseason. Somebody who caught the likes of Heath Bell, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Tom Koehler and Ricky Nolasco could potentially become a member of the 2025 Marlins.

The 2012-2013 Fish remain the only team that's ever given Brantly a long leash to prove himself in The Show. What a fascinating career snapshot this is (courtesy of Baseball-Reference). He has played MLB games in seven of the last 11 seasons, but never more than 14 games in any given year. There have been three separate seasons in which he's made exactly one appearance.

Brantly is the 65th player who's been invited to Marlins big league camp. At age 35, he's nearly five years older than fellow NRI Albert Almora Jr., the next-oldest player in camp.

Brantly joins Nick Fortes as the only catchers in camp with major league experience—you could argue that is worth something. Barring injuries to Fortes and Rule 5 Draft pick Liam Hicks, he won't be in consideration for an Opening Day roster spot. The purpose of this signing seems to be simply finding a non-40-man substitute for Jhonny Pereda after Pereda was claimed off waivers last week. Lots of bullpen sessions need to be caught in Jupiter over the next two months!

If Brantly remains with the Marlins at the conclusion of camp, expect him to be assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville and catch once or twice a week.

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[rurrusuno]

My literal first reaction when I heard the news last night was “he still plays?” 😂