The Mariners announced this morning that they’ve released outfielder Mitch Haniger. Haniger was owed $15.5MM this season, the last year of the three-year, $43MM contract he signed with the Giants prior to the 2023 season. Both Haniger himself and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto provided statements alongside the announcement.
“Mitch has been a significant part of Mariners history and will be missed,” Dipoto said in the statement. “The day he arrived for his first spring training back in 2017, he established himself as one of the most focused, prepared, and hardest working players I’ve ever been around. We all appreciate the many ways he’s made us all better, on the field and off.”
“Putting on a Mariners uniform and playing at T-Mobile Park is something I’ll cherish forever,” Haniger said in his statement. “To our fans, my teammates, and everyone a part of this organization, thank you for embracing my family and me. We have so many great memories to look back on.”
It’s an unfortunate ending to Haniger’s tenure with the organization, which first began during the 2016-17 offseason when the Mariners acquired him from the Diamondbacks alongside Jean Segura and Zac Curtis in a deal that sent Ketel Marte and Taijuan Walker to Arizona. While Diamondbacks fans surely remember that deal fondly as Marte has grown into a star player with the club, Haniger enjoyed an impressive career of his own with Seattle over the years. Though he was often dogged by injuries throughout his tenure with the club, the outfielder remained productive and slashed .263/.337/.480 with a 124 wRC+ in 530 games from 2017 to 2022. His most impressive campaign with Seattle came in 2018, when he delivered a 137 wRC+ en route to a 5.0 fWAR/6.5 bWAR season that earned him an All-Star appearance and an eleventh-place finish in AL MVP voting that year.
Haniger departed the club for free agency following the 2022 campaign, and found a lucrative deal in San Francisco that guaranteed him $43MM over three years. Unfortunately, his first season with the Giants was one to forget as the outfielder was limited to just 61 games where he slashed a paltry .209/.266/.365 in 229 trips to the plate. Haniger was bit by the injury bug repeatedly through that season, as he suffered a fractured forearm in addition to oblique and back issues throughout the year. Despite those injuries, the Giants opted not to keep him in the fold and find out what a healthy season from their new outfielder might look like.
Instead, they shipped him back to Seattle alongside right-hander Anthony DeSclafani last winter in a deal that sent Robbie Ray to San Francisco. The surprise blockbuster reunited Haniger with the Mariners, and as he entered the season much healthier than he was the year prior there was plenty of reason for optimism that the veteran could return to form with the club. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass. Haniger struggled through 121 games with Seattle last year, slashing just .208/.286/.334 in 423 plate appearances.
It was his second consecutive season with negative WAR, and a career-high 29.8% strikeout rate offered little reason for optimism that he would be able to turn things around going forward. Haniger’s odds of recapturing his past success in Seattle further shrunk when the club acquired Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles during the 2024 season, both of whom effectively have the outfield corners locked down headed into 2025.
Haniger entered camp this year in competition with Mitch Garver and non-roster invitee Rowdy Tellez for the starting DH job, but quickly fell behind the club’s other two options when he hit just .167/.250/.389 across seven games this spring before being sidelined by shoulder soreness. He hasn’t played in a game since early March, and while a stint on the injured list appeared possible it now seems that the Mariners will instead allow Haniger to pursue opportunities elsewhere while clubs around the league are still finalizing their Opening Day roster decisions. Expecting a significant bounceback from a 34-year-old who is two full seasons removed from being an above average hitter would be a risk, but there’s little harm in another club seeing what Haniger might have left on a minor league deal should he be interested in one.
1st?
Some might say last.
How hilarious would it be it Giants pick him back up for league minimum
Not real hilarious. With how bad his numbers were with them I doubt they are going to rush to sign him.
Farhan is no longer in SF.
No chance…..
@MrShowtime
Hilarious would be the Giants picking him up again… and then giving him a big 3 yr extension.
Mute? Yes
Rowdy Tellez is washed up and by July he will be designated for assignment! Spring Training stats mean nothing. Paying Hanniger 10% of our entire payroll to play else-ware makes no sense! Either give Jerry a larger enough budget to compete or admit the Mariners ownership could care less about winning!
Dude both players suck. Hanigar is washed up.
And one more in the high pile of lessons that 3/43m to a 32 yo coming off a down year, whose lone great year was four years earlier, is a lousy idea.
Whoa, unexpected. Well, at least to me. Anyone need a hitter for league minimum? I can think of a few…
Two straight years of badness. Someone will give him a shot, but expectations are very low.
SF’s DH for the next 6 weeks.
Been there done that so…No.
SF has 5 OFers still on the ST roster, and more in AAA that are better options to cycle through the DH slot that have more upside than Haniger.
yeah I mean McCray and Meckler are on the 40 man and who knows they may want to bring Villar up who is also taking a slot to see if he can replicate spring and get some value in a trade rather than a straight DFA/waiver
For basically nothing, yeah for sure he’ll get a shot.
Not unexpected, we didn’t need 2 bad DH’s that are both right handed
I think this means that rowdy tellez earned his roster spot so now we can platoon correctly
I’d actually rather Detroit signed him versus Margot. Both are cooked though.
One of the best guys. Truly a genuine dude with an amazing work ethic. Some of the worst luck with his injuries. Wishing him the best moving on! Thanks Mitch!
Farhan fleece
Depends if Ray is an above replacement level pitcher again. Otherwise, the Giants are the hook for pretty much the same production but way more expensive.
Rather have Ray then Haniger right now. It’s not even a debate even if it costs more
Ray is owed $50M and was a replacement level player last year. Unless he takes a big step forward this year, his deal is more underwater than Haniger’s lost $15.5M.
In any case, Ray wouldn’t be in the M’s rotation anyways, so it would be hard for them to move him and/or get him any innings now to rebuild his value.
Why he hasn’t done anything in what 3 seasons now?
You are talking about 30 innings… his first 30 innings back from TJS, in which he still struck out more than 12/9 innings. “Replacement level” is a funny way of describing that. He looks great this spring, too.
he had TJS….
@rhandome “Great” is putting it mildly. SSS caveats, and quality of competition, etc., his ST numbers would make peak deGrom envious.
He’s always had elite strikeout stuff. That has never been his problem. His issue is a super high BB rate and home run rate.
In order to have more value than Haniger’s negative $15.5M, Ray needs to produce $35M or ~4.5-5 WAR over the next two seasons. It’s possible, but I don’t think very likely as he’d need to revert back to 2021 or 2019 levels while staying fully healthy. If he just performs at 2022 levels, it is about a wash of a trade (slightly better for M’s given he wouldn’t have a path to start over any of Gilbert, Kirby, Woo, Miller or Castillo).
don’t forger desclafani was also in that trade, the money worked out fairly even in the end
Money worked out evenly last year only. The Giants took on about $30M more in money in total with the assumption that Ray ($72.5M on his deal) will end up being useful while Haniger and DeSclafani were $42M in dead money.
I think it’s likely a weird win/win deal where it was bad money being moved around in a way that was more efficient for all (shorter and less money to Mariners; most serviceable player to Giants).
Taking on Ray’s contract was a godsend for the poor Mariners ownership. Stanton and co. would be living on the street if not for that trade.
But in all seriousness, Ray is average so getting off his insane contract alone made this neutral at worst for the M’s.
All 5 of our starters became better than ray which was part of the reason why
Also Stanton got cheaper of course
I don’t know if I’d call a former Cy Young winner and All Star average, his strikeout stuff is still there. Whether he can remain healthy for a full season is the question.
Past seasons do not change his current ability, and one season that was a clear aberration does not change the fact that he was never typically better than a #3 SP. The M’s bet on his breakout season holding true and they were wrong. Ray is not exciting as a 33 year old coming off of injury. Even if he bounces back, the smart bet without hindsight is to not expect him to be anything more than a back-end SP and to not perform better than any of the starting 5 in Seattle.
I don’t know that I would say you know baseball if you feel Ray is a good deal.
Everyone seems to be forgetting last season Ray was coming back from TJS. That’s a huge mitigating factor making last season’s stats unreliable. It take most pitchers some time to get their stuff back. I wouldn’t count on him being replacement level in 2025.
Key word in that sentence is “former”. Daniel Vogelbach and Tommy La Stella are former All-Stars as well, so what does that tell you?
You can always find some comparison to fit the narrative. Julio Rodriquez, Luis Castillo, and Randy Arozarena are also former All-Stars. Being one tells you zero about anybody.
Ray has had 2 good season out of 10. Gemis never going to to be a all-star level pitcher again. He will be lucky to produce a positive WAR
TMQ, Well, that’s different. I didn’t realize you had the ability to see into the future. Now that I know that I guess I’m just completely wrong.
lol ok
Who is looking at last year’s stats and making a judgment based just on that? He was slightly above average the year before (as he was in most years in his career) in a pitcher’s park, and now he’s 33, coming off major injury. Why should we expect him to get better?
Prior to the TJ surgery, Ray was pretty close to league average as a starter. 3.98 ERA and 109 ERA+. If what you expect is him to be not quite that good, you are probably in the ballpark of what you will see from him in 2025. Better than replacement level, but still a #4 starter. A really expensive #4 starter.
All this hate and vitriol poured on Ray is getting me down!
Everyone is talking about the Haniger versus Ray trade. How come nobody is doing the Haniger versus Ketel Marte comparison? Nevermind, think I know.
I wish they’d do Ketel Marte now, lol.
yeah I mean this is the year to see what he can still do – less than a half a year of pitching just out of TJ isn’t a great way to evaluate if a pitcher is still any good
From the Seattle perspective, the $25 million Robbie Ray is owed in 2026 will instead go to arbitration salary increases for Cal Raleigh, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby and perhaps Randy Arozarena.
The Mariners likely would make that trade with the Giant again.
and the giants would do it again too to get both desclafani and haniger off the roster
@myaccount2: Well done, sir! This genuinely made me laugh way harder than it should’ve.
You could put together a decent team in 2018 with today’s releases.
Shoot, a fella could have a good weekend in Vegas with all that! (Originally Dallas—edited to Vegas after JFK assassination during movie editing)
I’ve been to one world’s fair, a rodeo and a picnic, and that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.
It’s a bummer for Mitch. He’s a good guy who’s been unlucky with injuries.
I wouldn’t mind if the Giants picked him up and stashed him in Sacramento.
I’d rather Detroit signed him versus Margot. But I get it. They needed a guy who can play CF.
Sad, yet very necessary move.
HANIGERNOMOJO.
Actually shocked they released him since they are so desperate for offense and he could provide some potential upside. I know he has had two rough years but still surprising.
Agreed. Why don’t we see bad contract swaps anymore? There are teams starving for SP during a Tommy John epidemic and the Phillies couldn’t eat some salary and trade Taijuan Walker for a bat like this? Know internally they want Julio to be RF long term but who’s going to play CF? Dylan Moore?
Know internally? Sure. They have Robles and Arozarena, at the corners. They want Julio in Centerfield! Mitch Haniger has absolutely zero influence on what you are proposing. He was going to get limited at bats-at best. I hope he finds a home. But in a few years, he will be a hot name in the coaching circles.
I’m hoping that the Mariners find him a spot on the staff now if he decides he’s done playing.
I’m surprised they didn’t us IL since he is battling a shoulder injury.
Opens a 40-man roster spot this way, and clearly they weren’t too concerned with keeping him around..
Good point..didn’t think about 40 man. Was just thinking of the money.
Always thought this was a dumb move bringing him back. Great job Dipotto. His salary is equivalent to the entire budget for our winter spending thanks to cheap bum Stanton. What a disaster.
Stanton is to disaster what peanut butter is to jelly. You think you got Stanton problems, you don’t know the half of it! Ahahahahahaha!
Leroy Stanton nods approvingly.
Honestly it was a good move. Dipoto didn’t sign him, he signed Ray and realized it was a big mistake and took what he could get while getting out of his far more expensive and longer financial commitment.
I despise the Mariners and this year is a bumper crop for venting my spite. The team is terrible because the team, as a business entity, is terrible. Guaranteed profit though, so who’s losing here?
Guaranteed we win the division this season. I don’t mind not wasting payroll on a older bat this off-season. We need to keep our SP signed and hope our farm system bats produce. If even 50% of our top 100@ prospects live up to their potential our offense will be just fine in the near future.
I just got back from Vegas, sadly, or I would have rushed out and dropped $1000 on your guarantee! *
* (Guarantee void in Milky Way)
Do you really? I choose not to follow teams I “despise”. Like most M’s fans, you can’t give them up. You can only withhold $.
You still care enough to come read and post.
They brought him back to save money on the Robbie contract.
It’s a sad but inevitable end to Haniger’s Mariners career. He was just never able to build off that one great season in 2018. Too many injuries. He will always be a favorite to the Mariners fans.
‘21 was a great year. Blasted 39 out, some huge clutch moments. Has one of the biggest hits in Mariner regular season history during game 161 that year. I was there and I get goosebumps thinking about it
I was there also it was an amazing night….
I was with dad, brother and my girlfriend. I turned to dad and we both agreed we hadn’t seen that place like that since ‘01. We’ve been going to games together since ‘93
GF gone just like Haniger?
Of course. Too much baseball for her. Lol
She used to get annoyed when I would boo Bregman and Altuve. I should’ve known then that it wasn’t going to work out
haha,that should have been a red flag for sure,
Was just gonna say 2018 was a good year but 21 was the best.
Phillies Royals or Pirates. Add the Tigers to the last after that scary injury today. League minimum all need a RH OF bat. Dave Dombrowski are you listening?
An old bad hitter that keeps getting hurt isn’t going to be in much demand
Take the Phillies off the list. They sent 3 guys down to camp that look like Hank Aaron next to anyone named “Mitch” in a Mariners uniform. If you’re making a veiled Castellanos joke, it didn’t hit. Nicky Doubles is a superstar compared to all but 3 guys in Seattle’s lineup.
Tigers signed Margot. So, won’t be them.
The White Sox were ready to sign him after his release, then Jerry Reinsdorf found out they would have to pay him the “league minimum.” Ordered the GM to nix the deal since the White Sox couldn’t afford a contract that large!
Uh, wot? Oh haha
Big eat for the budget conscious Mariners. I say it’s over for Mitch
I support the clean break, though I expected him to start the season on the DL. The fact that Haniger might still outperform at least 2 folks who will be on the final roster speaks ill of Jerry’s roster polishing.
That the best you offer is that he “might” outperform two on the roster, does not speak ill at all of Jerry’s roster polishing. You seem to show that as a ceiling for Mitch. If that is the best you can hope for, Jerry made the right move. And I am not a Jerry fan. I am just going by your post.
*turd polishing
Who is he going to outperform? He is washed up and his career is done.
Rowdy Tellez doesn’t belong on a major league competitive roster any more, either. Mastrubuoni is an okay utility infielder, who might belong on a team that didn’t have super utility guy Dylan Moore at hand. Haniger may well be useful than those two. The M’s aren’t good enough to not be better at the end of their bench than all of those three.
Dipoto has made much more bad trades than good trades. Dipoto should be replaced or demoted to M’s farm director.
That’s not even remotely accurate. He has made some pretty impressive trades. More importantly is his development and scouting of pitchers and hopefully our current farm system bats.
It sure would be nice to have Ketel Marte in the lineup playing 2B and batting in front of Julio.
How many years ago now? Get over it.
You’re probably right.
One can hope Garver goes next
Or hope he starts hitting. Trying to be optimistic.
Have you paid attention this spring? I know it’s only ST, but It’s also an odd-numbered year.
It’s about time they drop Mitch “hang it up”
One of my all-time favorite Mariners. Such a good dude who showed his appreciation for the fans and was loved in the clubhouse. Hopefully we see him back in Seattle as a coach one day. Good luck to Mitch wherever he lands next.
genX here
Haniger is tiny proof we are living in a sim. Last version was Chris Davis via his ADD stuff…
Not trying to be right but until they find me out….
Even with the ridiculous contract of Robbie Ray, Giants obviously won that deal.
By trading 2 duds to Mariners to pay out was a solid turnaround.
How did they win that deal? Robbie Ray hasn’t accomplished anything in San Francisco besides cost a lot more money.
So M’s can’t spend money on new players who will play but they can spend money on old players who won’t.
Amen, are they eating $15mil ?
Yes, Haniger’s player option was $15.5 million.
A significant part of Mariners history?
Griffey, Ichiro, Johnson, Hanover
Haniger.
Don’t you love spell check..lol. can Hanover hit? We need to sign him!
I’m proud of the M’s brass for making this “big boy” move. Great org’s don’t carry players for the sake of their salaries. It’s Rowdy time!!!
Mariners should ask about yoshida when he’s healthy…….BOS should be willing to pickup a large part of salary since he doesn’t really fit in their lineup now…seems like the kind of ‘FA’ bat SEA can get with their current self imposed restrictions
Paying him to not to play here is better than paying him to play here.
Sad to see. However I can see why. Other than hitting a game-winning grandslam he didn’t do much last year.
I love when the Mariners make logical moves, and this was a move that NEEDED to happen. There was no room for him on this team, and they had no choice. It sucks, because I’m a fan of Mitch Haniger, but there was no way around this. Good job Mariners on making this tough call on a personal level, yet easy call on a professional level. I doubt Mitch will ever play in the majors again, though I hope he does if he desires to, and I think he’ll be a good manager or coach someday.
Thank you Mitch for all that you’ve done for our organization, for being a fan favorite, and for being a class act. We wish you the best and hope you get healthy!
Another clear upgrade now available for AJ Preller’s sorry selection of ball players. And this one is already paid for too!!!
A lot people want to find fault, or see everything as winning or losing. As a Giants’ fan I’m glad they shed themselves of DeSclafani, and Haniger, even though I was a fan of his. I’m glad they have a good bounce back candidate in Ray
I think the trade was win/win. The M’s saved money in the deal, moved a guy they didn’t have room for, and were able to offload DeSclafani. And I think, sad as it is, releasing Haniger was the correct move. I’m sure they must have explored trading him, and not surprised there weren’t any takers.
Paging Scott Harris…
$15 million not to do anything
So sweet !
And owe him $15 million… have him be a bat boy at least
So we can finally say with no debate that trading away Marte and Taijuan was a massive blunder by Dipoto / M’s front office.
Career earnings of $58mil and he’s getting paid $15,5 for this season no matter what… the guy is 34 and can’t stay healthy or play competitively anymore… it’s time to call it a career.
I hope that the Ms can make a deal to make Mitch a mentor and preparation coach alongside Ichiro. The Ms ACL team could use him and Seattle shouldn’t be too quick to say goodbye. I expect that even the White Sox and Rockies will be reluctant to sign a hurt ballplayer well beyond 30. But his character and example could really help that #3 pick this summer.
I’m not sure what rules would apply to a player/coach in the ACL, but it’s very worth the try.
The real issue is that MLB teams refuse to innovate in the way they handle aging veterans, leading to massive financial waste year after year. Until front offices evolve their contract and trade mechanisms, we’ll keep seeing the same cycle of bad veteran deals, dead cap space, and wasted roster spots.
That’s beginning to change. The Bergman deal especially is going to become the new trend- shorter contracts and higher annual salaries..It’s better for the game too… Most guys are done with their days of playing valuable ball by around 34, it kills the franchise when they’ve got to pay them for all those terrible years at the end of too long of a contract. Miguel Cabrera in particular became one of the least valuable players in the league for years at the end of his absurd contract. He’d have likely been retired at least 3-4 years sooner if not for the contract, no team would have used a roster spot on him after he became so clearly terrible. Although, don’t tell the Mets who will eventually have to deal with Soto probably in a similar situation to Cabrera in those late years of his ridiculous 15 year contract.
He was interviewed about a week ago and was asked if Dan Wilson had talked to him about what role he’ll play on the team. “No.” You could say the writing was on the wall.
Ha-what?
After he clears waivers, any team can pick him up for the major league minimum?
He is a perfect fit for the Angels where neither Adell nor Moniak has stepped up to win a starting spot.
Mariners announced this morning that they’ve released outfielder Mitch Haniger.
There will be no wavier period.
They said get, go, off my lawn, dont come back, kick to the balls.
He can sign a contract whenever he likes.
Mariners wish they could get someone to claim him and his $15.5mm
Per MLB “Before a club can formally release a player, that player must first be passed through unconditional release waivers”. According to the MLB transactions page, that is what the Mariners did on Sunday. They placed Haniger on unconditional release waivers. Teams rarely pick up players on release waivers because they would then be responsible for his salary. When he clears waivers on Wednesday, then the Angels should pick him up for the MLB minimum.
This was the only way for Mr. Stanton to save 750k off this years payroll at this point (when the marlins or rockies pick him up). The man knows how pinch a penny. Got to hand it to him
Trader Jerry got burned on that trade. Say what you want Farhan did his number on many other GMs via trade.
We all know that Mitch will get signed by either the Yankees or Blue Jays and they’ll fix his timing and he’ll come to Seattle in August or September batting 257 with 22 HR and 83 RBI in 314 an.
He’ll then go 8 for 11 with 3HR (at least 1 will be a walkoff) 2 dbls a triple and 9 rbi for the series.
All the best Mitch. I loved watching you while you were with us. You are a total class act!
34 is the new 38…!
A horrible signing for what they thought he was…the offensive savior of the team. Sometimes these GMs look real dumb. At the time it was obvious they were overreaching for offensive help
Haniger would be a good pickup for Cincinnati. A veteran RH hitting OF who will go at league minimum is perfect for their roster.
This is a guy listed on MLBTR, as a contract to take on in exchange for prospects (Referencing Miami).
Detroit could have done that.
Should have hired the Superfife.
Another “take the money and run” bum
If I was Mitch Haniger, I’d take a year off and travel the world with my $15.5 Million. Play baseball (or coach) next year.