The Seattle Mariners have continued their busy off season by re-signing ace pitcher Felix Hernandez to a long-term deal. The deal is rumored to be a 5-year deal worth $80 million. The Mariners were able to avoid the arbitration process with this new deal as Hernandez was rumored to be looking for $10 million in arbitration this season. This new deal keeps Hernandez in Seattle until at least the 2014 season and should put the trade rumors with the Boston Red Sox to rest. Last season, Hernandez had his best season in his brief career as he finished second in the AL Cy Young voting to Zack Greinke with a record of 19-5 and a 2.46 ERA.
For the Mariners, this is an excellent deal as they have locked up a 23 year old pitcher who is already considered the ace of their staff. This is also a good deal for Hernandez as he can avoid the arbitration process and be a free agent again when he is in the prime of his career at age 28, where he should find another lucrative long-term deal barring injury. In my opinion, it is encouraging to see teams realizing the importance of keeping their home-grown talent in the organization. In this era of free agency, it is common to see players jet from team to team every off season and fail to establish continuity with one club. The Florida Marlins are another team that did a great job of locking up their home-grown ace with their re-signing of Josh Johnson to a long-term deal last week.
It is no secret that the Mariners have been the most active team this off season. In my opinion, they have set themselves up to make a big run at the Los Angeles Angels and the re-signing of Hernandez might be the best and most important move of them all. Mariners fans should be encouraged by their organization’s activity this off season and should be in store for an exciting season.
Nice, the only thing that makes me nervous about young pitchers that peak early is that they tend to disappear in the years when most pitchers are in their prime. Hopefully Felix stays healthy and motivated but its tough to project what any player will be 5 years from now. Especially a pitcher who will have 1,000 innings + after the contract is up if he stays healthy
this guy is a freak. i’m thinkin the addition of cliff lee will make him even better. tcp brings up a good point about young pitchers peaking early but i think cliff lee can teach him a few things aboutconsistancy and how to be not only a good pitcher physically but mentally as well