How Will Mitch Haniger Fit In Mariners’ 2020 Plans

There have been rumors about the Mariners trading Mitch Haniger back to his old club the Arizona Diamondbacks. Is it a good idea or not?

I am sure if the Mariners do trade Mitch Haniger back to Arizona, they will want to have a lot in return far as prospects and or a major leaguer. Mitch missed most of last year going on the injured list on June 7. It would look like other teams wouldn’t be interested in him, unless it’s for a bargain.

Before his unfortunate injury, Haniger was not having a very good year anyway. Often players have a year where they don’t perform well at all. The Mariners were hoping he would snap out of it before being injured.

At the time of his injury, Mitch was batting .220 in 63 games; however, he did have 15 home runs. This means if he had stayed on course he would have ended the season with more than 30 home runs. Not bad at all for someone who was having an otherwise poor season. Also, he had 32 runs batted in at the time of the injury. It would have been much less than the 93 he had in 2018. He played in the All-Star game that year; a good reason to be careful before trading him.

The Mariners consider Haniger a five-tool player so trading him will have to take a lot in return. Mitch showed the Mariners in his first two seasons he could hit anywhere in the lineup. His first year in 2017, he began by hitting sixth in the lineup but found his way to batting second, third, fourth and fifth in the lineup. In 2018, when injuries happened to Dee Gordon, they moved him to the leadoff spot where he succeeded too. So he showed whatever the need the Mariners had he was willing to make the transition for the betterment of the team. Someone like that would be hard to trade even though he missed half of a season.

Though the Mariners are in the second year of their rebuild, having a player like Mitch Haniger around is a good thing. Both Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais have said at times he is one of the hardest workers on Seattle’s roster. So much that it may hurt him as well. Though he will be 29 years old during the 2020 season, he will be one of the Mariner veterans where the youngsters can learn a lot from him. We do know, though, that if another team does offer something that the Mariners can’t turn down we will say goodbye and good luck.