Divish on Mitch’s Return

[Coeurd’Alene J]

Here’s why Mitch Haniger could return to the Mariners, or leave this offseason | The Seattle Times

With eye black still on his face and sweat stains damp on his shirt from an 18-inning loss last weekend that ended the Mariners’ season sooner than they expected, outfielder Mitch Haniger began to realize this could be the end of his time in Seattle.

He had stubbornly refused to allow thoughts about his baseball future invade his mind during the final months of the regular season and the Mariners’ first postseason in more than two decades. Those could wait till the offseason, when he will become a free agent.

But after a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Astros in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, the thoughts filled his mind. The longest-tenured player on the Mariners roster might be somewhere else next season.

“It’s tough,” Haniger said after the game. “I’ve definitely tried to not think about it as much as I possibly could over the last couple of months and over the last year. I think I’ve done a really good job with it, and not really worrying about what’s going to happen in the future and just focus on playing and winning ballgames. I’m sure I’ll think about a lot over the next couple of weeks.

“Hopefully something good happens, but we’ll just have to wait and see. I’m just going to decompress for a little bit and spend some time with my daughter and my wife.”

As players made their way to Haniger, they gave him long hugs and thanked him for what he provided to the team and to them individually — veteran presence and leadership, his indefatigable intensity and an unwavering focus to daily preparation. Emotion began to fill Haniger, breaking through his normally controlled facade.

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“He is the epitome of a professional athlete,” manager Scott Servais said. “He does not leave any stone unturned in what’s going to allow him to get the most out of his own ability. It’s rubbed off on our team.”

Haniger fought back tears in conversations with pitcher Marco Gonzales and shortstop J.P. Crawford (his longest-tenured teammates), a goodbye to first baseman Ty France (another grinder like himself) and farewells to young players such as outfielder Julio Rodriguez and catcher Cal Raleigh, to whom he has offered advice and entrusted to carry on what he helped build regarding expectations and how to prepare and play.

“I don’t want to do it, I don’t want to imagine that,” Gonzales said when asked about Haniger possibly not being a Mariner next season. “He’s meant so much to us as a group, organizationally and to me as just a good friend, someone to look up to, someone to inspire me. Day in, day out, I can’t imagine him not being here.”

Crawford’s voice grew soft, and he fought back emotions when asked about Haniger possibly leaving. He said goodbye to third baseman Kyle Seager after the 2021 season, and losing Haniger would be just as painful.

“No, I can’t do it,” Crawford said. “I can’t think about it. He’s one of our leaders. I’ve been playing with him for three years, and [he’s] one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. I’m praying to see him back her next year. I don’t want to get too deep into thinking about it. But I hope he has a great offseason and I see him [at spring training.]”

Raleigh credited Haniger with helping change his approach at the plate, to focusing on hitting fastballs first and foremost in May when he returned from Triple-A Tacoma.

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“Mitch has been great,” Raleigh said. “I know personally that he’s helped me out a ton, and having his leadership and his presence here has been great. And unfortunately, he didn’t get to play all year. That’s unfortunate, but he’s great. He’s helped me out a lot. And I really hope that we get him back next year.”

Though the allure of free agency and the possible big payday can be highly anticipated for any player, Haniger has become attached to the Mariners over his six years with them.

“I’ve loved playing here and hope to continue to play here,” Haniger said. “I’m a really big fan of guys here, and I’ve had a blast playing, especially the last few years. I hope to be back in a Mariners uniform.”

But is that realistic?

Well, yes and no.

The day after the World Series ends, Haniger will become an “XX (B)” free agent — a player with at least six years of major-league service time and no contract for next season.

Under the collective-bargaining agreement between the Major League Baseball Players Association and Major League Baseball, the Mariners can make a qualifying offer to Haniger because he was on their roster for the entire 2022 season.

The qualifying offer is a one-year contract for a salary that is the mean salary of MLB’s 125 highest-paid players.

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A year ago, the qualifying offer salary was $18.4 million. Of the 13 players who received the offer, only one — Giants first baseman Brandon Belt — accepted it.

The salary for a player receiving a qualifying offer would be $19.65 million for 2023. It’s the highest qualifying-offer salary since the system was enacted in 2011.

It would represent a significant raise for Haniger, whose salary was $7.75 million in 2022 in his final year of arbitration. The $19.65 million is more than the combined $14.87 million he made over six seasons in Seattle.

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If a player declines a qualifying offer and opts for free agency, his team would receive a compensatory pick in the 2023 MLB draft. The position of that draft pick is based on the financial commitment of the player’s free-agent contract and if his former team is receiving revenue sharing from or paying MLB’s competitive balance tax (CBT).

Because the Mariners are not paying a CBT, they would receive a compensatory pick, and it would be slotted based on Haniger’s compensation with a new team.

Being tagged with a qualifying offer can be prohibitive for a player, because any team he signs with would forfeit at least one draft pick and possibly two based on its overall payroll and number of picks in the upcoming draft.

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The possibility of getting a selection in the top 150 picks of the 2023 draft is certainly motivating enough for the Mariners to make Haniger a qualifying offer.

They have five days after the World Series ends to extend that offer.

It would seem highly possible that Haniger would accept the offer and return for one more season. It would allow for another run at the postseason in a place he feels comfortable. And it would give him the opportunity for a bounce-back season to re-establish his free-agent value. He played in just 57 games in 2022, posting a .246/.308/.429 slash line with 11 homers and 34 RBI. He missed time on the COVID-19 injured list and suffered a high-ankle sprain in his first game back that kept him out three and half months. Haniger hit .253 with 39 homers and 100 RBI in 157 games in 2021.

Haniger would have until 10 days after the World Series to accept or decline the qualifying offer.

The Mariners also could offer or sign Haniger to a multiyear contract before that deadline. Would a three-year contract at $10 million to $12 million per year with an option for a fourth be enough?

Haniger’s injury history, which included missing most of 2019 and all of the shortened 2020 season, and his age — he’ll be 32 next season — would be prohibitive concerns for Seattle.

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To be fair, the time missed in 2019 and 2020 was the product of a fluke injury — a foul tip to his groin — that led to multiple surgeries and missed time. Haniger also believes his maniacal work in the offseason and on a daily basis will help him offset any age-related regression.

“I always hear that players start to regress after age 31-32, but that’s a number based on all players,” he said. “It doesn’t take into consideration how much I train and lift, how much I take care of my body, how I sleep, what I eat. I’m not going out every night. I’m training and preparing every day like I want to play till age 40.”

It’s noticeable.

“You look at everything he does in the offseason and how he prepares every day, he certainly could be one of the outliers to slow expected regression and be highly productive over the next few years,” an NL pro scout said.

The Mariners’ leadership offered diplomatic but not telling answers to its plans surrounding Haniger.

“I think everyone would like to see us find a way to find common ground with Mitch,” Mariners general manager Justin Hollander said Wednesday at a news conference. “Players work a long time to get to free agency, it’s really hard to get six years of service to get there. And I know Mitch, as much as he wants to be here, also wants to gauge what else is out there. So we’ll keep talking. I think that’s the best answer I can give you. Because we do love what he brings to the table.”

Jerry Dipoto, the Mariners’ president of baseball operations, was asked about it on KJR-FM (93.3) that afternoon.

“Don’t know, that’s a two-way street,” he said. “We’re going to keep the rhetoric flowing with Mitch. We’ve loved having him here with the Mariners, He’s done a lot of positive things for us, especially in 2018 and 2021. No one’s ever questioned Mitch’s preparation and care. He’s an impact player when he’s healthy and on the field. Obviously, we would be interested in having that, but it’s a two-way street, and we’ll have to have those conversations as the offseason gets going.”

Ryan Divish: 206-464-2373 or rdivish@seattletimes.com; on Twitter: @RyanDivish. Ryan Divish covers the Mariners in Seattle and on the road. Look for his 'Extra Innings' podcast and

[D-train]

If they were giving him a qualifying offer they would have just said we're going to give him a qualifying offer and we hope he accepts it

[Coeurd’Alene J]

Raleigh credited Haniger with helping change his approach at the plate, to focusing on hitting fastballs first and foremost in May when he returned from Triple-A Tacoma.

They didn’t get to many fastballs in the post season.

[Coeurd’Alene J]

If they were giving him a qualifying offer they would have just said we're going to give him a qualifying offer and we hope he accepts it

Doesn’t really surprise me that Jerry is tight lipped. That’s his MO

[D-train]

True he doesn't have to disclose anything but there's really no advantage to not going being public with it. I mean what are they going to do crunch the numbers another couple hundred more times in the next couple weeks to see if he's worth 19 plus million a year.

If their plan was to give him a qo then why would they need to keep the rhetoric going. They're not going to give him a qo and if he comes back with hat in hand I'm sure we might consider a deal but I bet another team will give him a better deal and he will play elsewhere in 2023

[GL_Storm]

Never mind.

[D-train]

In some cases maybe but in this case I think it's a gift from God for him almost 20 million dollars a year three times more than he's ever made in a season after only playing 57 games?

[GL_Storm]

In some cases maybe but in this case I think it's a gift from God for him almost 20 million dollars a year three times more than he's ever made in a season after only playing 57 games?

You didn't see that I edited my post because I realized what I said didn't actually pertain to your point.

[Cascade Kid]

If they were giving him a qualifying offer they would have just said we're going to give him a qualifying offer and we hope he accepts it

Doesn’t really surprise me that Jerry is tight lipped. That’s his MO

Yesterday's JD show. Skip to the 23 minute mark. (link edited to hopefully work)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t ... 1110091113

[bpj]

If they were giving him a qualifying offer they would have just said we're going to give him a qualifying offer and we hope he accepts it

Doesn’t really surprise me that Jerry is tight lipped. That’s his MO

Yesterday's JD show. Skip to the 23 minute mark.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/j ... 0583331137

Couldn't play this on my phone, so I went looking for it. Still didn't find it-but found another interesting conversation Dipoto had since the press conference.

As Dtrain predicted, they're set on a defensive middle infielder because of the shift going away. Barf.

But it does sound like they're in the corner outfield market, so at least that's something.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3FBpoH ... =copy-link