World Series Champion Catcher Mitch Garver Retires After 10 MLB Seasons Mitch Garver, a 2023 World Series champion with the Texas Rangers, has confirmed his retirement after a 10-season MLB career with the Twins, Rangers and Mariners. Mitch Garver, a World Series champion catcher and designated hitter, has confirmed his retirement after a 10-season major league career. Garver played for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners. Garver won the 2023 World Series with the Rangers, who defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. He played in 14 postseason games that year, hitting .226 with three home runs and 14 RBI. During the 2023 regular season, Garver batted .270 with 19 home runs and 50 RBI. It was his best season since his breakout 2019 campaign with Minnesota, when he hit .273 with 31 home runs and 67 RBI.Garver Early Career And Silver Slugger AchievementGarver won a Silver Slugger Award in 2019 after hitting 31 home runs, driving in 67 runs and posting a .995 OPS. He broke into the majors with the Twins in 2017 and played his first five seasons in Minnesota. With the Twins, Garver slashed .256/.341/.494 with 53 home runs and 154 RBI. Minnesota originally selected him in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of the University of New Mexico.He is an Albuquerque native. The Rangers acquired Garver from the Twins in a trade before the 2022 season. His first year in Texas became a lost season after he suffered a flexor tendon injury in his right arm early in the year. Garver could still bat but was unable to throw because of the injury, so he was limited to designated hitter.By summer he opted for surgery so he could be ready for the 2023 season. A knee sprain also hampered him that year. After his postseason success in 2023, Garver signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Mariners. At the time, it was the richest contract Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto had ever handed out.Contract Details And Mariners Tenure StatisticsFirst baseman Josh Naylor later set a new high mark with his five-year, $92.5 million contract last offseason. The Rangers chose not to trigger Garver's $20 million option for the 2024 season, leading him to Seattle. Garver spent his final three seasons with the Mariners. He slashed .185/.292/.333 with 28 home runs and 96 RBI as a catcher and DH.He struggled offensively compared with his time in Texas and was relegated to a backup role behind catcher Cal Raleigh. Despite no longer being a starter, Garver remained an important clubhouse presence and helped Raleigh during his record-setting 2025 season. He helped the Mariners reach the American League Championship Series in 2025, where they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays and fell short of their first World Series appearance.Final Seasons And Career Stat TotalsSeattle released Garver in August, and he signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees but never appeared in a major league game for the team. In 701 career games, Garver had a batting average of .229 with 110 home runs and 324 RBI. All three catchers from the 2023 World Series teams are either retired or with other teams. Jonah Heim is back with the Athletics after the Rangers non-tendered him last offseason.Austin Hedges returned to the Cleveland Guardians after the Rangers opted not to re-sign him.