While last season was an injury-shortened wreck for the Mariners’ Mitch Haniger, you can’t dispute that he’s a highly valuable outfielder when he’s able to take the field. Haniger came into his own during his first extensive action in 2017, and he was a deserving All-Star during the next season, in which he hit .285/.366/.493 (137 wRC+) with 26 home runs and 4.5 fWAR. With three years of control left, Haniger could either continue to serve as a key Mariner or re-emerge as a desirable trade chip, leaving the M’s in a good spot in both cases.
As for how Haniger became a Mariner, we can start by revisiting the 2011-12 offseason. Prolific slugger Prince Fielder, a Brewer from 2005-11, reached the open market after the last of those seasons. He was a Type A free agent, which is a concept that’s now extinct in the majors, but losing Fielder entitled the Brewers to a compensatory pick in the 2012 draft. They did indeed see Fielder depart, as he went to the Tigers on a nine-year, $214MM contract. That left the Brewers with the 38th overall pick, which they used on Haniger.
While Haniger was a decent minor league hitter at the lower levels in the Milwaukee organization, he never played in the majors with the Brewers. They instead traded Haniger and left-hander Anthony Banda (now a Ray) to the Diamondbacks at the July 2014 deadline for outfielder Gerardo Parra. The Brewers didn’t make the playoffs that year or the next one – Parra was on their roster both seasons – and they traded him to the Orioles for righty Zach Davies at the 2015 deadline. Davies was effective as a Brewer from 2015-19, though they dealt him to the Padres in a four-player swap that delivered infielder Luis Urias and lefty Eric Lauer to Milwaukee over the offseason.
So, in the wake of the Parra trade, how did Haniger end up in Seattle? Let’s go back to November 2016, when the D-backs sent him, infielder Jean Segura and righty Zac Curtis to the Mariners in a blockbuster trade for infielder/outfielder Ketel Marte and righty Taijuan Walker. Segura’s now a member of the Phillies, who acquired him from the M’s in a December 2018 that brought shortstop J.P. Crawford and some guy named Carlos Santana to Seattle (though Santana never played for the club). Marte has turned into a superstar in Arizona, meanwhile, Walker’s now back in Seattle after a couple injury-ruined years in the desert, and Curtis is out of baseball.
This goes to show how much one team’s decision – in this case, the Brewers letting Fielder go in free agency – can affect the league. Had the Brewers simply re-signed Fielder, which was out of the question for the low-budget team, you never know what would have happened to any of the aforementioned clubs or players. Milwaukee’s inability to keep Fielder did lead Haniger to Seattle, which is no doubt pleased to have him in the fold for at least the next few seasons, but it did lose Marte when it acquired him.
I appreciate you guys keeping these articles coming. I’m working nights at the moment and we slow down in business and I get super bored so I got some blasts from the past articles. Love it!
I agree, Ryan. Impressive for the team to keep pumping out so much good content with no baseball being played. Thanks MLBTR!
But Seattle gave up Marte who is the best player currently out of all those players in that trade.
Marte is currently the best player from that trade. He didn’t break out until last season, and there might be some regression, but Haniger immediately gave Seattle a much needed middle-order outfielder and a MLB-ready/proven SS, which they lacked at the time. Time proved Haniger and Segura weren’t enough to sneak into the post season, but that’s the way it goes.
The fun part about this trade is that the secondary pieces on the surface, Haniger and Marte, proved to be the bigger assets. Hopefully both will lead their clubs to the post season before too long.
True, but only for one season. Need to see if he can keep it up. And after all the subsequent Trader Jerry deals, the Mariners essentially gave up Marte for Haniger, Crawford, Isaiah Campbell, and Juan Then.
Walker had some success in Arizona before he got injured and it was Segura that led to the other names you listed.
I assumed this was an article to talk about how the Mariners sucked the year before they drafted Griffey Jr….I was wrong.
but seriously, thanks for keeping the content coming.
An article with both ketel 1 vodka and hennigan’s no smell, no tell scotch. Gonna be a good day.
that trade was a very good win-win trade
Unless your a Mariners fan and you think this is there year. Realistically how much longer before they become true contenders in that division. Any decent players close to 30 should be traded for top prospects. Hopefully in 3-5 the Mariners will be good again.
Realistically, 2022 at the earliest and 2023 being more likely. Seattle will still be dependent on prospects currently in the minors that won’t likely make the taxi squad being proposed if there is a season. If there is no minor-league season, that will likely mean a full year set-back for Kirby, Williamson, Raleigh, Rodriguez, and Marte.
That could easily change, though. For example, investing in a player like Realmuto this coming offseason along with a starter like Bauer, and there would be less work to do in the 2022 offseason.
They’ll need veterans as much as they’ll need youth. I personally don’t think they should trade Haniger. Even if they were to consider Kelenic and Rodriguez locks to hold two of the outfield spots, Lewis, Fraley, and Bishop haven’t proven anything yet and they could always rotate outfielders at DH to keep everyone fresh.
It will be interesting to see if this situation changes Seattle’s approach. My guess is that it does. Fans aren’t going to be any less impatient and no matter how understanding ownership is of the situation, Jerry will still need a contract extension.
Imagine if they hold out for Raleigh to lead the catching half of the battery and he gets injured next season, setting back his debut even further. Catchers are frequently injured, so that wouldn’t be a huge shock, and Seattle has exactly zero alternatives in the upper-minors. What then? “Just one more year, fans…”
Seattle should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. They would be strengthening their depth with top-tier prospects if they were invest a little more in veterans via free agency. Hard to argue against that, especially when you consider the payroll flexibility they have moving forward. Almost nothing is on the books after 2021.
In addition to Realmuto and Bauer I think the Mariners should go after 1 or 2 FA RP’s after the 2020 season. Your reasons for the acquisitions of Bauer and Realmuto apply to the bullpen, as you say, prepare for the worst hope for the best.
We should go after a late inning RP, someone like Yates, Hendricks or Giles. I understand there’s risk in buying FA RP’s- reliever’s success can fluctuate from year to year but if Yates has another good season this year* he’d be my top candidate. You can’t enough good relievers.
I think the Brewers cam out on top no matter what everybody says. Their options were either Braun or Fielder. I think they chose right because Braun has been around the league and this past year he hit .280. I think the Brewers made all the right decisions.
Well, allowing Fielder to walk is one thing, but the value they’ve received from the trade that sent Haniger and Banda away is debatable.
Haniger is regressing and closing in on 30. He peaked.
If by regressing you mean he’s been extremely unlucky with injuries then I agree. We have no idea if Haniger has regressed- he played in just 63 games last year.
Jean segura sure travels a lot
Segura supposedly has some personality issues. It was mentioned when he went to Seattle. The Mariners front office talked highly of him, but it sounded like they were very selective in their wording.
I don’t think he’s a cancer… he might just rub people the wrong way.
He’s had exactly one full season of being good. Who knows what he even really is. They could have kept Marte…