Catcher Mitch Garver has retired from playing, according to Ted Schwerzler of minnesotasportsfan.com. Garver’s career spanned parts of ten major league seasons with the Twins, Rangers and Mariners.
Minnesota drafted Garver in the ninth round in 2013 out of the University of New Mexico, and he quickly built a reputation as a strong hitter in the minors. The question was always whether the defense would hold up behind the plate. By the end of 2016, the Twins were comfortable enough with his progress to add him to the 40-man roster and keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
His first taste of the majors came in 2017, but the bat didn’t follow him there right away. He hit .196/.288/.348 with no home runs in 52 plate appearances. A year later, he started to look more like the player Minnesota had hoped for, posting seven homers and a .268/.335/.414 line.
Then came the big leap in 2019. Garver appeared in only 93 games and logged 359 plate appearances, yet he still blasted 31 home runs as part of Minnesota’s “Bomba Squad”.
That season is remembered league-wide for the juiced balls and the flood of home run totals, but Garver’s .273/.365/.630 slash line still stood 55% better than league average by wRC+. His glove never drew the same praise as his bat, but for a catcher, that kind of offense carried real weight.
The next stretch was rougher. In 2020, an intercostal strain limited him to 23 of Minnesota’s 60 games, and he struggled at the plate in the shortened season. Injuries kept bothering him in 2021 too, though he was productive when healthy, knocking 13 home runs 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. He went to the Rangers in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. The next day, Kiner-Falefa was shipped to the Yankees with Josh Donaldson and Ben Rortvedt for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela.
Texas didn’t get the fully healthy version right away. Garver bounced on and off the injured list in 2022 and underwent flexor tendon surgery in July after playing only 54 games.
He found his rhythm in 2023, though, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Even with a long absence because of a knee sprain, he hit 19 home runs in 344 plate appearances, walked at a 12.8% clip and finished with a .270/.370/.500 line that translated to a 142 wRC+.
The Rangers reached the playoffs, and Garver added three more home runs in October as they claimed the first championship in franchise history.
He reached free agency coming off that title and signed a two-year, $24MM deal with the Mariners to back up Cal Raleigh and split time as a designated hitter. It never quite clicked in Seattle.
Over those two seasons, Garver hit .187/.290/.341. Because his defense was already a concern, the dip in offense made the whole package far less valuable.
Seattle brought him back on a minor league deal, and he made the Opening Day roster in 2026 before being released in August after batting .175/.302/.294 in 149 plate appearances. He later had a brief stint with the Yankees on another minor league deal.
After three straight difficult seasons, Garver is done playing. He finishes with 702 games, 2,498 plate appearances, 497 hits, 110 home runs, 301 runs scored and 324 RBIs.
He hit .229/.325/.432 for his career. FanGraphs credited him with eight WAR, while Baseball Reference had him at 10.1.
B-Ref pegs his total earnings just under $35MM.
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The hesitation is just as real, because this would not be a simple rental-style add for a contender. Kwan is entering the final year of arbitration before reaching free agency, which gives any acquiring team a relatively short window to maximize the return. For the Mariners, the bigger question is whether the price in prospects and long-term flexibility would be worth it for a player who fits so neatly on paper, even if the fit comes with real cost. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Fans Will Have Mixed Feelings About Mitch Garvers Next Step
Mitch Garvers time in the majors is over after a 10-year run that included stops with the Twins, Rangers and Mariners, with his most recent seasons coming in Seattle. The veteran catcher said he is retiring and moving on to focus on family and golf, closing the book on a career that gave the Mariners a steady, experienced presence behind the plate and in the clubhouse.
Garvers decision will land differently for Seattle fans because he arrived as a known commodity from earlier stops and spent his final stretch in a Mariners uniform. His retirement leaves one more familiar name off the roster, and while the next chapter is now personal rather than professional, the reaction from Mariners followers figures to be split between appreciation for what he brought and regret that his career ends here. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners Fans Just Got A Brutal Reminder About That Offseason Trade
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Seattles side of the move has not offered much comfort. The Mariners did acquire Brendan Donovan in the deal, but injuries kept him on the field for only 39 games, leaving the club with little to show for a transaction that now looks even tougher in October. For a team that missed the playoffs in 2026, watching a former piece thrive while the return was constantly unavailable has made the trade sting all over again. [Read more 🡒]