Brewers land free-agent catcher Pedro Severino on a one-year deal to serve as backup to Omar Narváez

It didn’t take the Milwaukee Brewers long to find a replacement for backup catcher Manny Piña.

ESPN reported Sunday the Brewers and free agent catcher Pedro Severino agreed to a one-year, $1.9 million deal. The agreement was pending a physical, so the club made no announcement.

Piña signed a two-year free-agent deal last week with Atlanta, leaving Omar Narváez as the only experienced catcher on the Brewers’ 40-man roster. Luke Maile, who also played in the big leagues for Milwaukee in 2021, earlier exercised free agency after being sent outright to Class AAA Nashville.

Severino, 28, also elected free agency after being outrighted earlier in the month by Baltimore. That move was made even though he served as the Orioles’ primary catcher in 2021, playing in a career-high 113 games and batting .248 with a .308 on-base percentage, .690 OPS, 11 home runs and 46 runs batted in.

Severino did not have a good year defensively, leading the American League with 10 passed balls while being rated with minus-9 defensive runs saved. He threw out nine of 40 runners (22.5%) attempting steals. In his first year of salary arbitration, he had a $1.825 million salary.

But Narváez also came to the Brewers with a reputation as a defensive liability when he was acquired from Seattle in a trade after the 2019 season. But, through hard work and solid coaching, Narváez has turned himself into an asset behind the plate, ranking first in the majors in framing pitches in both seasons he has played for Milwaukee.

Signed originally in December 2010 by Washington out of the Dominican Republic, Severino has played in 362 major-league games with the Nationals and Orioles, batting .235 with a .305 OBP, .677 OPS, 33 home runs and 133 RBI.

When Severino's deal becomes official, the Brewers will have 36 players on their 40-man roster.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers to sign catcher Pedro Severino to replace Manny Piña