The San Francisco Giants sign Mitch Haniger to a three-year, $43.5M Contract. Haniger played for the Seattle Mariners from 2017-2022 after his cup of coffee with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016. Haniger has been an excellent player over his time with the Mariners whenever he has been healthy. Unfortunately, that was really only in 2018 and 2021 in which he played in 157 games each season. In 2017, Haniger missed a bunch of time with an oblique injury, a broken finger, and a 95-MPH, Jacob deGrom fastball taken off his face. He still played in 96 games, however, and he turned in a line of .282/.352/.491 with an OPS+ of 127 and 16 homers through those 96 games.
After a strong, All-Star campaign in 2018 that saw him slash .285/.366/.493 with 26 homers, 83 RBI, and an OPS+ of 139, things looked great for Haniger. Or so it seemed. The injury bug hit Haniger hard in 2019 when he suffered a ruptured testicle that required multiple surgeries, and an adductor tear/undiagnosed sports hernia that kept him out for the remainder of the 2019 season. He only played in a total of 63 games in 2019 slashing .220/.314/.463 with 15 homers and 32 RBI with an OPS+ of 108. However, the pain was only beginning. Hanniger missed the entire 2020, shortened season due to a herniated disc in his back requiring another surgery.
Haniger Shows a Sign of Things to Come
Mitch Haniger showed a sign of things to come when he returned with a vengeance in 2021. He played another season in which he hit the 157-game mark and slashed .253/.318/.485 with a whopping 39 homers and 100 RBI. His OPS+ was 122. This was the sign to the Giants and the rest of MLB that this is what can be expected from a healthy Haniger, and hence, got him paid. As luck would have it, he only played in 57 games in 2022 due, once again, to injury. He started the season off with a two-week IL stint due to COVID and played just a few games before he suffered a Grade 2 high ankle strain that left him with an extended stay on the 60-day IL.
The Giants signed Haniger based on the season before as well as the 2018 season. The Giants will do everything in their power to keep a healthy Haniger on the field. They have shown him that they believe that they can do that. They also proved that they believe that if they do, then he will perform as he has in his healthy seasons.
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