Monday BP: Giants reportedly interested in Mitch Haniger

Happy Monday San Francisco Giants fans. Maybe this is the week we find out whether the Giants sign Aaron Judge or once again finish in second place. It probably isn’t. But it probably is a week where some things happen.

Mitch Haniger might be one of those things. According to a report from The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Giants are interested in Haniger, an outfielder who was born in Mountain View and attended Archbishop Mitty High School.

Mind you, this rumor is very much in its infancy. The extent of Rosenthal’s mention of Haniger and the Giants is the following quip while talking about the Texas Rangers: “The team also is showing interest in free-agent outfielder Mitch Haniger, who is drawing attention from the Giants and other clubs as well.”

Haniger is a quality right-handed outfield bat who has hit better than league average (by both OPS+ and wRC+) in every season of his career, save for his 34-game cup of coffee in 2016, his debut season. He was an All-Star in 2018 (when he was worth 4.8 fWAR), and received MVP votes that season, and last year as well.

He hit .246/.308/.429 this season, but injuries held him to just 57 games. He’s certainly not the answer to the Giants defensive woes in the outfield, but he’s competent enough that he won’t be a huge liability. It’s pretty clear that the Giants plan on signing a quality defensive outfielder or two (Judge and Cody Bellinger, anyone?), and that would make Haniger a completely solid corner option.

In addition to Haniger, the Giants have reportedly been looking into former Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen. This will upset some Giants fans. I am emphatically not one of them, as I would love this signing.

Have a good Monday, y’all. May it bring you an Aaron Judge contract.