Catcher Mitch Garver has called it a career after parts of ten major league seasons with the Twins, Rangers and Mariners, according to Ted Schwerzler of minnesotasportsfan.com.
Minnesota drafted Garver in the ninth round in 2013 out of the University of New Mexico, and his rise in the organization came with questions about whether his bat would be enough to carry him behind the plate. The Twins liked him enough by the end of 2016 to put him on the 40-man roster and keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Garver reached the majors in 2017, but his first taste was quiet: .196/.288/.348 with no home runs in 52 plate appearances. He looked more like himself a year later, when he delivered seven homers and hit .268/.335/.414.
His best season came in 2019, when he was a centerpiece of Minnesota’s “Bomba Squad.” Garver appeared in only 93 games and came to the plate 359 times, but he still crushed 31 home runs and put together a .273/.365/.630 line.
Even in a year when the ball flew all over the league, that production stood out, with his bat finishing 55% better than league average by wRC+. The glove never drew the same praise as the offense, but the power was impossible to ignore.
The next two years were harder. An intercostal strain limited him to 23 games in the shortened 2020 season, and his production cratered. Injuries again slowed him in 2021, though he was productive when healthy, slugging 13 homers in 243 plate appearances and finishing with a .256/.358/.517 line and 139 wRC+.
With Ryan Jeffers emerging, the Twins moved Garver before the 2022 season, sending him to Texas for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. Kiner-Falefa was flipped the next day along with Josh Donaldson and Ben Rortvedt for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela.
Garver’s first season with the Rangers was interrupted by injuries, and flexor tendon surgery in July ended his year after 54 games. He bounced back in 2023, though another injury - a knee sprain that cost him a lengthy stretch - didn’t stop him from putting together a strong run.
He hit 19 home runs in 344 plate appearances, walked at a 12.8% clip and posted a .270/.370/.500 line with a 142 wRC+. Texas reached the postseason, and Garver added three more homers there as the Rangers captured the first title in franchise history.
That championship sent him into free agency, where Seattle brought him in on a two-year, $24MM deal to back up Cal Raleigh and serve as a part-time designated hitter. The fit never really clicked.
Over those two seasons, Garver hit .187/.290/.341. His defense already put a cap on his value, and the drop-off at the plate made things worse.
The Mariners tried again with a minor league deal, and Garver made the Opening Day roster in 2026, but he was released in August after hitting .175/.302/.294 in 149 plate appearances. He later signed a minor league deal with the Yankees before stepping away from the game.
Garver finishes with 702 games, 2,498 plate appearances, 497 hits and 110 home runs. He scored 301 runs, drove in 324 and leaves the game with a .229/.325/.432 line. FanGraphs gave him eight WAR, Baseball Reference 10.1, and B-Ref pegs his career earnings at just under $35MM.
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