The Seattle Mariners released veteran outfielder Mitch Haniger on Sunday.
An All-Star with the club in 2018, he spent parts of six seasons in Seattle.
“Putting on a Mariners uniform and playing at T-Mobile Park is something I’ll cherish forever,” Haniger, 34, said in a team news release. “To our fans, my teammates, and everyone a part of this organization, thank you for embracing my family and me.
“We have so many great memories to look back on.”
Haniger was with the Mariners in 2017-19, 2021-22 and 2024. He was part of the 2022 squad that made the playoffs — the first Mariners team to achieve the feat since 2001 — and received American League MVP votes in 2018 and 2021.
He struggled this spring, hitting just .167 in seven games. One of his three hits was a solo home run — his only RBI in Cactus League play.
“Mitch has been a significant part of Mariners history and will be missed,” said Jerry Dipoto, the team’s president of baseball operations. “The day he arrived for his first spring training back in 2017, he established himself as one of the most focused, prepared, and hardest working players I’ve ever been around.
“We all appreciate the many ways he’s made us all better, on the field and off.”
Haniger was selected in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a deadline-day deal in 2014.
In November 2016, Arizona traded him along with Zac Curtis and Jean Segura to the Mariners for Ketel Marte and Taijuan Walker.
In total, Haniger played in 651 regular-season games with the Mariners, batting .254 with 119 homers and 350 RBIs. He also played in 95 games split between the Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants.
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