A little signing during the draft lottery for the Giants. NOT THAT signing, though.
It is an outfielder, however:
Every single report of the signing, by the way, is accompanied by a declaration that this signing has NOTHING to do with Aaron Judge. Which, hey, I get it. You wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea, especially if the possibility of Judge is still quite strong.
As for Haniger, he’s an interesting case – in terms of market impact – because he’s not really seen as a center field option, but he’s generally rated out as a decent defender in the outfield corners. When healthy, he can hit. Always has. And at 32, he’s not really all that old yet. Really nice player to add. Not sure there’s much market impact to the Cubs, though, as they were not involved on Haniger or in the corner outfield market generally.
If the Giants do get Judge, though, this would take them out of the market for any other outfielders to whom they may have been connected. I wonder if Bellinger choosing the Cubs had anything to do with Haniger and the Giants? Either before or after? What about Brandon Nimmo?
Now the question is whether the near $15 million AAV for Haniger, in concert with the huge expenditure possibly coming on Judge, would definitely take the Giants out of the mix for Carlos Correa. If so, hooray Mitch Haniger signing! But honestly, I’m not sure there’s a relationship here, since the Giants had multiple major needs.