Atlanta Braves Mailbag: Fans ask about Mitch Haniger and Adeiny Hechavarría
By Fred Owens
Are third and left-field linked?
My post here about other outfield options I received two questions about players from Seattle. Isaac wanted to know the cost of acquiring an outfielder.
What’s a good package for Haniger after Donaldson comes home?
— Isaac Acuña (@atlanta15braves) December 14, 2019
And jdawg wanted to know if the Atlanta Braves discussed getting two players
No one’s reported discussions between Atlanta and Seattle for either Kyle Seager or Mitch Haniger, and if you want to see them wearing a Tomahawk, that’s a good thing.
History tells us that the deals Alex Anthopoulos makes are complete before any writers know a deal is under consideration. When we hear a rumor involving the Braves, it’s either something anyone paying attention knew or something an agent or team wanted to make public for their purposes.
When the Braves traded for Kevin Gausman in 2018, writers said the Rays were waiting on a new offer from Atlanta. Anthopoulos said afterward that he knew the night before the Braves weren’t going to get Chris Archer.
On the latest podcast, I said that the Atlanta Braves would need to add good prospects to get both Haniger and Seager. After a deeper dive into Haniger’s history and details, I don’t believe that’s true.
Haniger projected
Mitch Haniger made 123 PA for Arizona before leaving for Seattle in the Taijaun Walker / Ketel Marte trade, showing some power, but not much in the way of average or on-base. His first year in Seattle indicated he’d finally figured it out; he ended the season with a .282/.352/.491/.843 line, 16 homers, a .360 wOBA, 129 wRC+ and 2.5 fWAR in 410PA.
It’s hard to beat a first season with your new team that good, but Haniger managed to do it. He batted .285/.366/.493/.859, hitting 26 homers and posting a .367 wOBA, 137 wRC+, and 4.5 fWAR with a 1% lower K-rate 1% and 3% higher walk-rate. That performance earned him an All-Star game nod and an eleventh-place finish in MVP voting.
According to Baseball Prospectus ($), the Mariners can thank their hitting coach for Haniger’s improvement at the plate.
". . .Haniger’s star rose in 2016 with the help of Bobby Tewksbary, the hitting guru best known for his work with Josh Donaldson. Haniger rebounded in September, confounding analysts further . . ."
Knowing whether his improvements are permanent is the hard part; as the 2019 season began, it appeared they weren’t.
Haniger’s 2019 season started slowly and went downhill from there. He batted just .220/.314/.463/778 in his first 283 PA, then added injury to insult by fouling a pitch off his hope for a future family and rupturing a testicle.
Mariners release says Mitch Haniger’s injury occurred in the sixth inning but I think it happened here in the third inning. pic.twitter.com/FfO4n7CS0E
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) June 7, 2019
Unsurprisingly, that ended Haniger’s season, and he had no chance to rebound.
BP’s scouting report describes Haniger’s worst projection as, “. . . a league-average hitter with good defense in right field, which is much more than any of his prior employers were expecting.”
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that level player. It’s essentially:
- Starling Marte’s 2018 – .277/.327/.450/.787
- Gregory Polanco‘s 2016 – .258/.323/.463/.786. and
- Yasiel Puig’s 2019 – .267/.327/.458/.785