World Series Champion Catcher Announces Retirement After 10 Seasons

Longtime MLB catcher Mitch Garver retired after finishing his 10th MLB season.

Garver confirmed his retirement to MLB.com's Daniel Kramer on Thursday. The 35-year-old indicated some interest in staying involved in baseball as a coach or in a media job.

He never exceeded 430 plate appearances in a season, but Garver often made an impact at the plate. Garver retired with a .229/.325/.432 slash line and 110 home runs in 701 games.

Garver broke out in his third year with the Minnesota Twins, setting a single-season franchise record for a catcher with 31 home runs in 2019. The Silver Slugger remarkably needed just 359 plate appearances in 93 games to do it.

Garver never reached 20 home runs in another season, but he bounced back from a down 2020 to post an .875 OPS in his final season with the Twins. The right-hander then joined the Texas Rangers and played a pivotal role in their 2023 World Series win.

After batting .270/.370/.500 in the regular season, Garver hit three home runs and drove in 14 runs during the playoffs. He parlayed that success into a two-year, $24 million deal with the Seattle Mariners but had a .626 OPS with his third and final team.

Despite those struggles, Seattle brought back Garver on a minor league contract this year. He hit .175/.302/.294 before getting released in August. Garver signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees but didn't return to the majors.