Mitch Haniger bypassed the opportunity to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Mariners, MLBTR has confirmed. The outfielder returns to Seattle on a $15.5MM salary.
There wasn’t much doubt about this decision. Haniger is coming off a second straight down year. He hit .208/.286/.334 across 423 plate appearances. That’s similar production to the middling .209/.266/.365 slash he posted during his first season with the Giants. Haniger had been an above-average hitter over the five years preceding his $43.5MM free agent deal with San Francisco.
Seattle reacquired Haniger last winter alongside Anthony DeSclafani in a deal that sent Robbie Ray to the Giants. Neither side got much out of that trade in the first season. Ray was inconsistent over seven starts and bypassed the chance to opt out of the $50MM remaining on his deal. The M’s did manage to flip DeSclafani as part of the Jorge Polanco trade with Minnesota, but Polanco underperformed while DeSclafani blew out and never pitched for the Twins.
Assuming the Mariners keep Haniger on the roster through the offseason, he’ll compete for a spot in Dan Wilson’s corner outfield/DH rotation. Seattle has Randy Arozarena locked into left field. Victor Robles is the favorite for playing time in right, but he can move into a fourth outfield capacity if the M’s add a bigger bat. Luke Raley should get a decent chunk of playing time at DH, especially if the Mariners acquire a first baseman via free agency or trade.
twozero6ix
Nooooooooooooooooooo
McGrundle
Anyone who thought he wasn’t going to exercise his option is crazy. The team traded for him with that contract in place.
toycannon
On the plus side, he stayed healthy all season.
McGrundle
Ouch…
TigersLoveCinnamon
That hits a little too close to home lol
dshires4
It takes ball to make that joke.
coupofthecentury
oof, tough break mariner fans lol
mlb fan
Jerry Dipoto is the undisputed, three-time defending champion “King of lateral trades”.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
At this point its king of losing trades
Jorge Polanco, haniger, urias, all are bad trades with the only good one being Luke raley
That’s a -2 fun differential
sillywabbit
Since 2012 the M’s are second only to the Brave’s in greater war than trade partners. He’s over all won more than he’s lost.
chrisjaybecker
There’s no apostrophe in Braves.
MortDingle
Yes, but every one of Jerry’s teams are hamstrung with the dead weight he traded for and must be paid so they play…Do the M’s lead the league with a roster of stating position players who hit under 2oo…that is what I see as the negative value of The Trader…and no 54%…ever, but plenty of marginal players who bring the team down.
Stevil
I would honestly be surprised if he returns to Seattle. Exercising the option only means he’s guaranteed his salary, it doesn’t guarantee him a spot on Seattle’s roster.
hllywdjff
I highly doubt they will eat that money….Just keep him and don’t try to offload that contract in a deal where you get hosed on the other side…
Stevil
We’re talking about a Jerry-Dipoto front office. Of course they’ll try to move that contract. They moved, Gonzales, White, Ray, and Suárez last offseason. Moving Haniger should be a lot easier.
hllywdjff
And everyone of those deals they got ZERO in return!
Samuel
They go a very expensive roster spot.
Nothing new.
JT70
Did you expect them to get much in return? All four of them played pretty poorly for most of the season, with Suarez getting hot in the 2nd half to salvage his season. When trading underperforming players to get rid of their contract you either (A) eat some salary and get something slightly better than a lottery ticket/contract swap back or (B) don’t eat any salary and get basically nothing in return.
Stevil
The point was salary relief and they got that. When a return isn’t important, the goal is even easier.
hllywdjff
Yeah they got salary relief so they could sign Polanco and Urias. Eessshhhh
Stevil
It also gave them the dough to get Garver and took future $ off the books.
But back to the point: Moving Haniger shouldn’t be difficult. It’s how they’ll do it that’s nerve-wracking.
ayrbhoy
Exactly! The writing was on the wall. The FO will probably trade a Prospect(s) that is blocked at the ML level, maybe a SP prospect like Taylor Dollard? That MiLB player, SEA paying a % of Hanigers salary and the fact that Mitch stayed healthy in 2024 = Hanny’s 3rd different team in the last 3 seasons.
Stevil
We proposed a combo of cash and prospects in a three-team swap at HVH.
hllywdjff
Getting Garver was?????
SodoMojo90
He didn’t sign either of those players. But nice try.
SodoMojo90
I suspect he’ll play some and if he’s not hitting come June, they’ll just cut the string.
The biggest tr0ll
Mitch “hang it up”
Ignorant Son-of-a-b
He didn’t have an injury last season as an excuse for his poor performance. So I guess it’s just age regression. I thought he would come back to form being healthy and back in friendly Seattle. But no.
bus035
He was only 33 too. I understand he’s had a lot of injuries over the years but he’s also had a ton of recovery time those years. He needs to go to the Nelson Cruz academy to train in order to play well into his mid-to-late 30’s.
Ignorant Son-of-a-b
That’s another thing thats strange is that he is a total robot when it comes to getting his body ready and all the strength and conditioning exercises he is known to do in preparation. I guess he is a total maniac in all of that, so his body should be just fine. But yet…the struggles
longoverdue1977
I’m not sure why Haniger’s outfield performance was lacking in 2024. Perhaps he was taking extra caution to avoid an injury. In any case, I am hoping for a turnaround season in 2025.
kws001
He did what any of us would do in that situation, but it’s a gut punch to the M’s. Wouldn’t be surprised if they end up buying him out.
SodoMojo90
Why would he accept this and then agree to a buyout? The buyout would be less than what he’s getting paid and he’s not gonna take it. This is baseball. Not football. The contract is guaranteed.
kws001
I just don’t know if they’ll carry him on the opening day roster. That was my point as much as my flawed thinking re: the money.
shyzer
Seattle still came out ahead financially from this, which was the entire goal of the Ray-Haniger trade.