Mitch Garver’s time as a big leaguer is over.
According to Ted Schwerzler of minnesotasportsfan.com, the catcher has retired after parts of ten major league seasons with the Twins, Rangers and Mariners.
Garver’s career began in Minnesota, where the Twins took him in the ninth round of the 2013 draft out of the University of New Mexico. He hit his way through the minors, though there were questions about whether he would hold up behind the plate. By the end of 2016, the Twins were convinced enough to protect him on the 40-man roster and keep him away from the Rule 5 draft.
His first shot in the majors came in 2017, and the bat wasn’t there yet. Garver hit .196/.288/.348 with no home runs in 52 plate appearances. The next season brought a step forward, with seven homers and a .268/.335/.414 line.
Then came the explosion in 2019. In just 93 games and 359 plate appearances, Garver crushed 31 home runs for Minnesota’s “Bomba Squad.”
That season’s offensive environment was inflated across the league, but Garver still stood out with a .273/.365/.630 slash line that was 55% better than league average by wRC+. His glove never drew the same praise as his bat, but at catcher, that kind of offense plays.
The shine faded quickly after that. Garver missed time with an intercostal strain in 2020 and appeared in only 23 of Minnesota’s 60 games, struggling at the plate. Injuries also limited him in 2021, though he was productive when healthy, blasting 13 home runs in 243 plate appearances and posting a .256/.358/.517 line with a 139 wRC+.
With Ryan Jeffers emerging, the Twins moved Garver before the 2022 season. Minnesota sent him to the Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. The very next day, Kiner-Falefa was included in a larger deal with the Yankees, alongside Josh Donaldson and Ben Rortvedt, for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela.
Texas got a mixed version of Garver in year one. He battled injuries, landed on and off the injured list and eventually needed flexor tendon surgery in July after appearing in 54 games.
He bounced back in 2023, though, and the timing could not have been better. Despite a long stretch away because of a knee sprain, Garver hit 19 home runs in 344 plate appearances, walked at a 12.8% clip and turned in a .270/.370/.500 line worth 142 wRC+.
The Rangers made the postseason, and Garver added three more homers on the October stage as Texas won its first title in franchise history.
That championship launched him into free agency, where Seattle signed him to a two-year, $24MM deal to back up Cal Raleigh and moonlight as a part-time designated hitter. It didn’t click.
Over those two seasons, Garver hit .187/.290/.341. With defense already a concern, the drop in offense erased much of his value.
The Mariners brought him back on a minor league deal, and he earned a place on the Opening Day roster in 2026, but he was released in August after hitting .175/.302/.294 in 149 plate appearances. He later spent a brief stint with the Yankees on a minor league deal.
After three straight difficult seasons, Garver is calling it a career. He finishes with 702 games played and 2,498 plate appearances, along with 497 hits, 110 home runs, 301 runs scored and 324 RBIs.
His final line sits at .229/.325/.432. FanGraphs credited him with eight wins above replacement, while Baseball Reference lists him at 10.1.
B-Ref pegs his total earnings just under $35MM.
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