These 3 Mariners are eligible for arbitration

SEATTLE -- Right fielder Mitch Haniger, coming off an injury-plagued 2019 season, headlines a trio of Mariners players facing a 10 a.m. PT deadline on Friday to either agree to contract terms or exchange arbitration figures with the club.

Haniger, center fielder Mallex Smith and reliever Sam Tuivailala are the only Mariners remaining from an original group of 10 arbitration-eligible players the club had on its roster at the end of last season.

Players with between 3-6 years of Major League service time who aren’t already under contract enter into the arbitration process to determine their salaries. Most players and clubs come to an agreement before the deadline, but those who don’t then exchange figures. An arbitration panel chooses either the club’s offer or the player’s asking price at a hearing in February if no compromise is reached in the interim.

? Salary arbitration, explained

The Mariners have had just two players go all the way to an arbitration hearing since 2000. Reliever Tom Wilhelmsen lost his case in 2014, with the panel choosing the team's $1.4 million offer over his requested $2.2 million. Starting pitcher Freddy Garcia won his case in 2003 when he was awarded $6.875 million over the team's $5.9 million offer.

The Mariners have had 20 cases go to a hearing in the franchise’s 43-year history, but 17 of those were from 1980-93.

With a relatively young roster heading into the 2020 season, the Mariners have a small group of arbitration-eligible players remaining this year. Of the seven other players who would have been arbitration eligible, Omar Narváez was traded to the Brewers, Tim Beckham and Domingo Santana were non-tendered, Anthony Bass was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays, Matt Wisler was claimed by the Twins and Ryon Healy and Keon Broxton declined outrights to the Minors and became free agents.

Here’s a look at the three remaining arbitration-eligible players (listed with service time and salary estimates from Cot's Baseball Contracts):

Haniger (3.048 years): $3 million projection
The 2018 All-Star is in the first of his three arbitration-eligible years after earning $590,000 last season and will get a significant pay hike, but figures to be an interesting case after playing just 63 games last season due to a ruptured testicle and ensuing core and back issues. Even before his injury, Haniger had posted just a .220/.314/.463 line, well off his 2018 numbers of .285/.366/.493. But he did have 15 homers and 32 RBIs with 1.4 Wins Above Replacement (per Baseball Reference) in just two months and is regarded as one of Seattle’s core veterans.

Smith (3.125): $2 million
The speedy center fielder is also hitting his first year of arbitration eligibility at a less than ideal time after a disappointing 2019. Though he led the Majors with 46 stolen bases, Smith posted just a .227/.300/.335 line and negative 0.1 bWAR in 134 games, a significant drop from the .296/.367/.406 and 3.5 bWAR in 141 games the prior season with the Rays. The 26-year-old heads into 2020 as the club’s starting center fielder, though he’ll get some competition from prospects Jake Fraley, Braden Bishop and, eventually, Jarred Kelenic. Smith earned $578,400 in '19.

Tuivailala (3.082): $900,000
The 27-year-old right-hander won’t break the bank in his first year of arbitration eligibility, but he will get a bump from the $568,000 earned last year after posting a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings over 23 appearances following his return from a ruptured Achilles tendon. Tuivailala pitched just five games for Seattle after being acquired from St. Louis in midseason of 2018 before getting injured in a rundown, but rejoined the Mariners in mid-July and is expected to be one of their late-inning bullpen candidates this season.