Haniger avoids arbitration with 1-year deal

SEATTLE -- Right fielder Mitch Haniger officially agreed to terms on a one-year contract for 2021 with the Mariners on Monday, leaving the club with just catcher Tom Murphy and shortstop J.P. Crawford as remaining arbitration eligible players.

The Mariners didn’t release terms of the contract, but Haniger avoided the arbitration process by agreeing to a $3.01 million deal, according to sources.

That is the same amount Haniger was set to earn last year in his first season of arbitration eligibility, though his final salary wound up being $1.1 million due to the prorated figures over 60 games in the pandemic-shortened campaign. Haniger wound up sidelined by injury the entire year and the 29-year-old hasn’t played in a game since June 6, 2019, following a series of surgeries after he ruptured a testicle from a foul ball.

But after missing this past year following offseason surgeries to repair a torn adductor muscle as well as a herniated disc, Haniger has resumed baseball workouts this winter and the Mariners expect him to be ready to go in Spring Training. General manager Jerry Dipoto has said Haniger will be the starting right fielder to open the season, if things go according to plan.

Haniger will be eligible for arbitration for a third time next offseason, and he can become a free agent after the 2022 campaign.

The outfielder initially joined the Mariners along with Zac Curtis and Jean Segura in a Nov. 23, 2016, trade that sent Ketel Marte and Taijuan Walker to the D-backs.

Haniger was an All-Star in 2018, slashing .285/.366/.493 with 26 homers and 93 RBIs in 157 games. He owns a career .827 OPS over four big league seasons.