The Mariners have claimed catcher Rob Brantly off waivers from the White Sox, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin tweets. It’s not entirely clear why Chicago exposed him now, though perhaps it seemed an opportune time to attempt to pass the out-of-options player through waivers.

Brantly, 26, largely lost his chance at an active roster spot with the offseason addition of veterans Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro. In Seattle, he could challenge fellow left-handed hitter Steve Clevenger to back up Chris Iannetta behind the dish.

Since a brief but promising first taste of the majors way back in 2012, Brantly has spent most of his time in the upper minors. All told, he owns a .225/.286/.317 batting line over 392 plate appearances at the major league level. He did have his best-ever minor league season last year, carrying a .310/.335/.483 slash with eight home runs in 215 trips to the dish at Double-A and Triple-A.