Giants Acquire Robbie Ray From Mariners In Trade For Haniger, Desclafani

Jesse Courville-Lynch January 5, 2024 in MLB Tagged Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, Top Story - 2 Minutes

The Seattle Mariners have been active recently and have made a monster move by trading left-handed starting pitcher Robbie Ray to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for outfield Mitch Haniger and right-hander Anthony DeSclafini according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

BREAKING: The San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners are in agreement on a trade that will send former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to the Giants for outfielder Mitch Haniger and right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 5, 2024

Ray, who is 32, pitched just one game in 2023 where he allowed three runs. Ray was shut down after that start and ended up having Tommy John surgery on May 3, 2023. It seemed as though the Mariners were going to be patient with his recovery but ultimately chose to trade him away.

Who’s All Involved in Giants and Mariners Trade?

Before the 2022 season, Ray chose to leave the Toronto Blue Jays after his breakout season with the team and signed a five-year contract with the Mariners worth $115 million. In his breakout season, he recorded a league-best 2.84 earned runs average in 193.1 innings and added 248 strikeouts which resulted in a Cy Young award. Since joining the Mariners though, Ray hasn’t been able to replicate that performance.

DeSclafani finished last season with a 4.88 ERA and 79 strikeouts through just under 100 innings. The 33-year-old is joining his fourth major league team. Haniger, who is also 33, hit six home runs in 61 games after a fractured forearm kept him out of the lineup for over two months.

Haniger spent five seasons with the Mariners between 2017-2022, opting out of the shortened 2020 COVID season, and was an all-star in 2018 when he hit .285 with 26 home runs.

Ray is under contract through the 2026 season and is owed $73 million in that deal. DeSclafani is owed $12 million in 2024 and is the final year of his contract and Haniger is entering the second season of a three-year deal he signed with the Giants last offseason.