The Marlins have picked up the $1.5 million team option on 31-year old catcher Jeff Mathis earlier today. Mathis served as the back up to Jarrod Saltalamacchia in 2014.
Mathis hit .200/.263/.274 last season for the Marlins hitting 2 home runs and driving in 12 in 64 games played. His defensive stats were solid as he threw out 16-33 would be base stealers and posted a defensive WAR of 0.9 while being 5 runs above average defensively.
This is a good move for the Marlins who likely intend to keep their catching duo of Saltalamacchia and Mathis together. Although the Marlins have a young catcher waiting in the wings in J.T. Realmuto it makes sense to have a couple veterans on the team to help him adjust to the MLB.