Haniger heating up ahead of Trade Deadline

SEATTLE -- A Friday night that was shaping up to be another Shohei Show turned into Mitch-A-Palooza, as Mitch Haniger crushed a tiebreaking grand slam and sent the Mariners to a 7-3 win over the rival Angels in front of what might’ve been the loudest crowd at T-Mobile Park this season.

With two outs in the eighth inning, Haniger lifted a 2-0 sinker from José Quintana at the bottom of the zone and twisted his entire lower half with such raw power that he was able to send it 386 feet into the Mariners’ bullpen for his 20th homer of the season. That capped a seven-run swing after the Mariners went down, 3-0, in the third inning on a home run from Shohei Ohtani that will be talked about as long as this ballpark remains standing.

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On a middle-middle sinker from Marco Gonzales, Ohtani reached territory that only five have before him had -- the right-field upper deck -- and none with the combination of distance (463 feet) and bat speed (116.5 mph) seen at this ballpark since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

But Gonzales was able to rebound and finish one out shy of six innings, which kept the Mariners in position to rally. Seattle advanced to five games over .500 (47-42) and moved to within 2 1/2 games of the second American League Wild Card spot with just two games left until the All-Star break.

That standing for a team many suggest is punching above its weight, and a rapidly ticking clock down to the July 30 Trade Deadline, is the situation that Seattle’s front office finds itself with exactly three weeks remaining.

“It’s been fun, man. … I feel like this whole homestand, and even this whole season, has been good, especially the guys in the clubhouse” Haniger said. “They come in and try and get better every day and just have a good attitude. I think that's key. I think that's what winning teams do.”

Zoom in and you’ll see one of the youngest teams in the Majors, a corps of tight-knit players who adore each other and are determined to keep winning in spite of noise since Spring Training suggesting they are still at least one year away.

Zoom out and you’ll see a roster with clear starting-pitching needs in the immediate and long term, offensive flaws that would become further exacerbated by subtracting Haniger and a 30-year-old outfielder whose trade value will never be higher.

They have 14 games to decide whether to buy, sell or a combination of both -- and Haniger figures to be at the forefront of it all given his value on the market, the affordability of the remaining money on his $3.01 million for 2021 and the one year of arbitration that he has for ‘22.

Management could justify moving Haniger by maximizing his value and pointing to the offense’s uncertain sustainability, highlighted by a minus-46 run differential even after Friday’s win. The Mariners are also 19-8 in one-run games and 10-1 in extra-inning games. There’s also the possibility that the Mariners flip Haniger for some much-needed starting pitching, with Justus Sheffield joining Justin Dunn on the 10-day IL this week and no clear plans on what to do with his rotation spot beyond a bullpen game on Sunday.

And Haniger isn’t the only chip that Seattle could shop. Kendall Graveman, who is on a one-year, $1.25 million deal with a $500,000 buyout for 2022, could be another.

But even if those outside the clubhouse believe that the Mariners are outkicking their coverage, there is no club standing between Seattle and division-rival Oakland, which holds the second AL Wild Card. Four other teams are within five games of the spot.

Subtracting Haniger, their top run producer, would certainly be a detriment to the Mariners' offense and their postseason ambitions. But it would also hit home in the clubhouse.

“That would hurt us excruciatingly,” Crawford said. “A lot. I don't even know the word. I'm trying to use a big word. But yeah, that would suck. We need Mitch. Mitch is one of our leaders. He comes in and a lot of our outfielders look up to him the most. He's one of our leaders on this team, and the stuff he does in the games, and the outfield, the way he patrols right field and crushes pitchers. He [deserves to be] an All-Star. We need them on our team.”

Haniger also homered in Thursday’s win over the Yankees, but before that, he’d mostly struggled to find the consistency of his swing since fouling a ball off his left knee in Cleveland, which initially looked much scarier than it wound up being. He was hitting .219/.278/.315 (.594 OPS) with just two homers in an 18-game stretch before Thursday, a downturn that steered him off the All-Star trajectory he was firmly on.

But in the grand scheme, after three surgeries that put legitimate uncertainty on who Haniger might be upon returning, the right fielder has bounced back better than ever. He’s putting together a season that he’d be a shoo-in for Comeback Player of the Year if the Orioles’ Trey Mancini hadn’t overcome colon cancer and earned an All-Star selection.

Now, the question remains: Will Haniger be in Seattle to see the rest of the season through?