The Detroit Tigers are an organization in desperate need of offense and run scoring ability. Is a short-term contract with outfielder Mitch Haniger an option for Detroit?
Yes, Haniger is oft-injured, however, when healthy he provides great pop from the right side, something the Tigers lack. Haniger is a career .261/.335/.476 hitter with 112 home runs (around 20% of his career hits) and 323 RBI. When healthy, he can provide 30 bombs and 100+ RBI.
According to Baseball Savant, Haniger has posted 4 consecutive seasons of 10.3 Barrel%, well above their indicated league average of 6.7. He also walks just above league average (8.0%) at 8.6% in his career.
Not only does he provide offense, but he is an above average defender as well. Over the course of his career he has posted, per FanGraphs, a +17 DRS in the outfield; including a +21 in right field and +1 in left field…we won’t look at his center field number because Riley Greene is already there. On top of the positive DRS number from the corner outfield positions, Haniger also has 22 career assists in right and 1 in left.
As mentioned earlier he is oft-injured, however, Haniger is at a point in his career that a multiyear deal is likely out of the question. Having missed more than 100 games in 2022 he will have to reestablish his value as an outfielder, so, a 1-year deal with an organization is most likely for 2023. Is it worthwhile to take a risk on Haniger to get the offensive production he can provide while Harris and his front office continue to evaluate the organization? A 1-year deal in the area of $12m could get it done.