I see Garver as the primary catcher in 2017, with John Ryan Murphy as the backup – unless the Twins sign Castro. I get the feeling the Twins are willing to take a chance on Garver if Castro signs elsewhere.

I think the new Twins leadership puts more emphasis on defensive catching skills, and Garver has been developing them.

It would not surprise me to see Garver head north with the Twins this spring...

I hope Garver is a future starter.

There are a few reasons to be concerned. Garver is older than John Ryan Murphy. He was very old for a AA prospect. Prospects are not usually near their prime when they play that level. His defense is often referred to as improved which is better than not improved but usually not indicative of a good defender. Sickels recently wrote a report of Garver and his improved defense. You can find Sickels having a very similar take on Josmil Pinto in 2013.

We can hope that Garver is a legitimate starting prospect but there are good reason to be skeptical of both his offense (due to his age at the level) and his defense. The Twins can't afford to hope on Garver. They need to be certain that he can receive the ball and give pitchers extra strikes rather than cost them strikes and give the batters more hitters counts. A plan of Garver starting as the top catcher in AAA and signing a defense first catcher for the major league team is probably the best option.

With a bit of seasoning and catching ore of the future Twins, Garver could be a primary backstop. But he will still need to show some signs of hitting. He may buy a year with a mid-season callup as there aren't a lot of other choices, but at some point the Twins will have to make a longterm decision. He may become a top-flight backstop who gives you what you need as a catcher and a batter. But only time will tell. We do know the Yankees knew something when they allowed Murphy to go as they watched a couple of other backstops develop into someone they would rather have behind the plate...than Murphy or McCann. At this point, we can be glad Hicks didn't become an instant superstar.

It was kind of unfortunate timing for this article since it was published the day of the Castro signing but it is a pretty good article.

After the Castro signing I think the Twins are in a solid place with their catching depth. Castro will be the starter and Garver or Murphy will compete for the backup position. If either plays well then Castro's playing time could be reduced from 75% of the starts down to 60%.

Garver certainly has the upside of being an average or better catcher though which hasn't been said (or even considered) about any catcher since Mauer moved. He has potential with the bat and the reviews of his defense are mixed. I wish he had caught more games during his development though. 

I think Garver starts in AAA, but if Murphy repeats 2016, I think Garver will find himself in the majors pretty quick.  Not sure how much more seasoning Garver needs, but I think he's going to be in Minnesota for a long time.