Giants Still Pursuing Aaron Judge After Signing Mitch Haniger

The San Francisco Giants signed former Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger on Tuesday. Aaron Judge remains in play for the Giants, but the New York Yankees are still trying to re-sign the MVP.

The Giants signed an outfielder on Tuesday, though it wasn't the one everyone is waiting on.

San Francisco inked Mitch Haniger to a three-year, $43.5 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The pact includes an opt-out after the second year, per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal. 

The Giants officially announced the signing.

Passan and Rosenthal noted that Haniger does not take the Giants out of the running for Aaron Judge, and that the two outfielders have been on San Francisco's wish list all along. The Giants are one of Judge's top suitors, with the other being the Yankees, who are hopeful they can resign the 2022 MVP.

While Judge reset the American League and Yankees' single-season home run records with 62 longballs in 2022, Haniger only played in 57 games due to a high-ankle sprain. He slashed .246/.308/.429 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI for the Mariners last season.

Haniger hit a career-high 39 home runs and 100 RBI in 2021. An All-Star in 2018, his Seattle career began in 2017 following 34 games with the Diamondbacks in 2016.

Like Judge, Haniger is a California native. He was born in Mountain View and attended  Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose. Both are about an hour from San Francisco.