Giants Baseball Insider

SF Giants sign former Mariners OF Mitch Haniger to three-year, $43.5 million deal

The SF Giants have made their first major acquisition of the offseason, signing longtime Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants sign former Mariners OF Mitch Haniger to three-year, $43.5 million deal
SF Giants sign former Mariners OF Mitch Haniger to three-year, $43.5 million deal /
In this story:

The SF Giants have made their first major acquisition of the offseason, signing longtime Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger to a three-year, $43.5 million contract. ESPN's Jeff Passan was the first to report the details of the agreement. The Giants interest in Haniger had been previously reported. Haniger was the 47th-best player in Giants Baseball Insider's free-agent rankings.

Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger stands in the batter's box. (2022)
Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

In 2022, Haniger severely sprained his ankle in late April and missed three months, and ended up playing just 57 games in the Mariners’ triumphant return to the playoffs. He hit 11 home runs and put up a slash line of .246/.308/.429. Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto had expressed interest in re-signing Haniger, but a reunion seemed unlikely after Seattle acquired outfielder Teoscar Hernández in a trade with the Blue Jays, a different right-handed power-hitting right fielder.

Haniger was an All-Star in 2018 for the Seattle Mariners, when he hit 26 home runs and 93 RBIs and finished 11th in the MVP voting. He sat out the 2020 season after having multiple surgeries, then came back in 2021 to hit 39 homers, score 110 runs, and drive in 100 while slugging .485.

Haniger and Joc Pederson could make a devastating left field/designated hitter platoon while representing the South Bay. Haniger, a graduate of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, crushes left-handed pitching, hitting .277/.353/.500 for his career. With that said, Haniger has shown the ability to be productive against same-sided pitchers as well, posting a career .255/.328/.467 triple-slash against righties.

Haniger is a decidedly better outfielder than Joc, with a good throwing arm, but is not an elite defender in right. Still, with better defenders like Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater in the outfield, Haniger could easily slide to left field, where he could be an above-average defender. Manager Gabe Kapler could also plan to deploy Yastrzemski and Slater in center, leaving Haniger to right.

The SF Giants are still waiting to hear the results of the Aaron Judge sweepstakes. For now, San Francisco knows it has at least come out of the Winter Meetings by adding one solid bat in Mitch Haniger. 

Published
Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

Home/San Francisco Giants News