Looking At Why the Mariners Will NOT Trade Mitch Haniger

The Seattle Mariners made one of their biggest trades in recent memory when they acquired Mitch Haniger in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2016. He has been one of the best players for the Mariners, but he has also had some big injuries that hurt his value. He missed lots of time with his injuries, but he came back last year and was one of the club’s best hitters. Some think he could be on the move, but the slugger is going to be sticking around this year.

Mitch Haniger was great in 2018, having a 4.5 WAR season and he made the All-Star team. He then started off pretty well in 2019, but his season was derailed when he ruptured his testicle early in the summer. He then did not play again until he made an appearance until opening day 2021. He returned to form, having an incredible season, not just for someone coming off of that injury, but for anyone.

Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger isn’t going anywhere

Haniger matched a career-high in games played last year at 157, hit a career-high 39 home runs, scored a career-high 110 runs, and drove in a career-high 100 runs. He returned to form for a Mariners team that won 90 games, and he was one of the most important pieces for them last year. He is going into his last year before free agency and is virtually untouchable.

The folks over at Rox Pile wrote about Mitch Haniger being a possible trade target for the Rockies, but Haniger is not going to be going anywhere. The Mariners are not trying to rebuild, they have already rebuilt their roster, and they’re ready to win. Trading Haniger does the opposite for the Mariners. They need their right fielder who was maybe their best hitter last year to stick around for them.

Not only is he a leader in offensive production, but he is a leader in the clubhouse, as he showed after his Players Tribune article. He is going to be hitting in the heart of the order for Seattle next year and is too valuable to be traded. Haniger will be a key piece to the Mariners quest to end their playoff drought. Without him, they do not have much of a chance. Even though some think that he could be on the move, he does not have value worth a trade away from Seattle.

Mitch Haniger is 31 years old, and will be a free agent after this year. He will not carry enough value for the Mariners to get a valuable contributor for them if they trade him. They would not be able to trade him for a starting pitcher to fill out the Seattle rotation, or any other valuable regular contributor. This means that they will not trade him because the value of having Haniger in the lineup every day is much higher than anything they would trade him for.

There is only one possible scenario where the Mariners trade Haniger, and that is only if the Mariners fall out of contention early and have a terrible season. They would have to be so far out of contention in July for Jerry Dipoto to move him for a small prospect package. The Mariners almost certainly will not be a bad team, and if there are expanded playoffs, they definitely will not move on from Haniger unless they are absolutely blown away by an offer.

Mitch Haniger presents too much value for the Mariners to trade for the little that they would get in return. A low minors prospect is not what the M’s need, they need the 39 home runs, 100 RBI, 110 runs, and nearly 3 WAR production from Haniger. The Mariners need to keep around their right-handed slugger, clubhouse leader, and veteran in their lineup if they want to break the playoff drought in Seattle. He is simply too valuable to Seattle to lose him in a trade.