By james art 
Beginning last Thursday (Oct. 31), Major League Baseball teams and players had five days to exercise player or club options.
For example, on Friday we saw the Seattle Mariners decline their $12 million option on second baseman Jorge Polanco, making him a free agent.
However, as of Sunday morning, the Mariners had yet to officially receive word on what veteran outfielder Mitch Haniger will do with his player option.
Haniger now has until Monday (Nov. 4) to decide if he will return to Seattle, but the decision seems pretty cut and dry. The 33-year-old has a $17.5 million player option that he seems certain to exercise. After a year in which he hit just .208 with 12 homers and 44 RBI, there are arguably no better one-year or multi-year deals for Haniger.
So what is retention?
This may really just be a case of Haniger and his representation waiting until the last minute because they can. However, there may be more at play. 2024 Mariners Outfield appears to be done with Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles. Could Haniger actually give up and give up a bunch of money for the chance of more playing time?
There is also a chance, albeit extremely slim, that Haniger will retire after his disappointing season. Again, this seems highly unlikely, but we just saw 34-year-old Kevin Kiermaier hook them up, so it’s happening.
Haniger will more than likely exercise his option within hours of this posting, but it’s remarkable to say the least that it hasn’t happened yet.
An eight-year veteran, Haniger spent parts of six seasons with the Mariners. He participated in the 2018 All-Star Game. and scored 39 goals in 2021.
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