Prospect Insider - Mariners Extend Felix Hernandez

Mariners Extend Felix Hernandez

By Alex Carson

By 02-07-2013

Just a short while ago, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported on twitter that the Seattle Mariners and Felix Hernandez are on the verge of new, seven-year contract worth $175 million.

Obviously, this should cause elation to fill your soul if you're a Mariners fan. Certainly, there's risk with giving this much money for this length to a any pitcher. However, if there was a player for this franchise to ever fork this kind of dough over to, it was Felix.

Keep in mind: This is not a seven-year extension. It is a new, seven-year deal that gives Felix a raise for the next two seasons and tacks five more on. So comparing this to a seven-year contract isn't quite appropriate.

Had Felix made it to free agency after the 2014 season, the Mariners would be looking at offering Felix a seven-year deal that would have to match or beat whatever Justin Verlander or Clayton Kershaw get. So, instead of playing to what the market dictated, the Mariners are the ones setting the market for those other arms.

While calling a contract worth $25 million annually a bargain would be a bit of a stretch, the M's may very well end up with a pretty good deal on their hands should Felix stay healthy for the duration. As it stands, this deal will run through Felix's age 34 season as opposed to one that may have ran through his age 36 season at a higher annual cost.

This goes beyond his talent and his relative youth, by the way. Unlike past Mariners superstars, King Felix has repeatedly stated his desire to play in Seattle and Seattle only. Lots of professional athletes make these claims, but Felix has always taken it to another convincing level.

Furthermore, this is about more than just Felix. As the Mariners made their way through this off-season targeting big name free-agents, speculation has been that players were wary to come to the Emerald City.

This doesn't fix all that ails the franchise, but it sure adds a lot of appeal to a potential signee. When a player with Felix's talent says he loves a place, others will listen. Teams would have lined up around the block to give Felix the key to their vaults when he hit free agency. They won't get that chance now. Free agents will notice that.

Moving forward, the club can't sit back and hope things fall in their lap. They can't take the slow approach to making the 25-man roster better. They have to get creative and pony up the resources to make this newly created seven-year window the best they can.

Those saying this franchise wouldn't spend the big bucks needed to land or keep a superstar have just been shown the contrary. Now, let's see how they parlay this into a contending squad.

For now, though, celebrate. Felix is ours and for a long, long time.

Long live the King.

mariners-extend-felix-hernandez

Comments
The following 15 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: acqb1424 on 02-07-2013 12:33:22
I don't post much on here (but read the site daily) but I had to just say Long Live the King! This is a great day to celebrate being a Mariners fan. While it is a risk to give a pitcher this kind of money/length of deal, like Alex said, it was worth it! Go Mariners!

2. By: baseballfan on 02-07-2013 12:39:15
If true, it's a great deal for seattle especially given his age and ability - this is a coup for Jack Z and as someone who was skeptial that Felix would extend, I tip my hat to Z and Marniers fans should be ecstatic.

3. By: baseballfan on 02-07-2013 12:42:05
Sorry,that should read "Skeptical"

4. By: WSChamps2014 on 02-07-2013 12:43:17
That definitely gives the team more certainty in the rotation, which will make it easier to part with a talented pitching prospect or two in the right trade. Hopefully we can find some other rotation anchors to help Felix in the next couple years. I'd love to see some of the young hitters break out and get some Braun/Longoria type deals in place to give the franchise stability. But this definitely feels good having Felix signed for the long term. It almost makes one forget that we still need to do something with the back of our rotation!

Thanks Felix for being loyal to the Mariners and remembering that no team will treat you like your first one and no fans will love you and support you like Mariner fans will! I'm glad to have the classiest ball player in baseball as our superstar and ace!

5. By: Paul Martin on 02-07-2013 13:14:03
This is HUGE!!! Felix proved his devotion to the team and city of Seattle. Yes, he gets some long term security, but he left A TON OF MONEY on the table, giving us a hometown discount to stay here.

Imagine the $$$ he could have received in an open market with the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Cubs, and Dodgers all bidding on his services?? Remember, he would have hit free agency as a 28 year old! Now he is OURS at least until he is 33.

This is a day to be grateful and thankful we get to see him in an M's uniform 7 more years.

Felix, the mayor should be giving you a key to the city, because you own this town!!!

6. By: Paul Martin on 02-07-2013 13:53:02
Shawn Kelley designated for assignment...could a trade be in the works?

7. By: Alex Carson on 02-07-2013 14:00:17
@Paul - Possibly, yes. I mean, I sure hope so. Because DFAing him instead of the likes of Yoervis Medina or Carlos Peguero seems silly.

8. By: greentunic on 02-07-2013 14:05:13
It was likely for the Shoppach signing that just happened.

9. By: Edman on 02-07-2013 14:29:37
This is a big statement for the franchise, IMO. It proves that Seattle is serious about its future.

10. By: rocketdawg31 on 02-07-2013 14:48:36

I wanted THIS more than I wanted any bat out there- even Stanton. This makes our post-season go from 'meh' to 'All RIGHTY, then!'.

This is a big statement in large block letters- on both sides. It means more than what many think.

The fan base needed something to believe in, and this was a humongous step to that happening.

The Franchise is staying around, and it means a bigger, more attractive window is created to get the fans back.

Now all Jack has to do is field competitive teams and show enough young, cost-controlled talent for this fan base to dream big again.

11. By: everblue77 on 02-07-2013 15:54:00
Sorry, I don't believe any one player is worth that much. We already know that one pitcher can't and won't get it done.... just takes away from the TEAM and getting others in that are very much needed.

12. By: whittier ms fan on 02-07-2013 16:07:28
Everblue.. That's practically all false. He was going to earn ~$20mm the next two seasons already. Giving him a raise now, and in future years, won't affect our ability to sign talent. If the Ms were to wait until Felix were a FA, not only would it likely cost us more than 5/$135mm, there is a possibility of another team offering a more lucrative contract than Seattle or Felix simply wishing to play elsewhere.

13. By: Madison Mariner on 02-07-2013 16:20:44
Just a quick question for Jason and the gang--does this "extend" him, or is it a new contract covering 2013-2019(7 years inclusive) as reported on MLB Network?

Either way, I'm happy to have Felix around for quite a while. Here's to winning our first World Series with Felix. :)

14. By: Madison Mariner on 02-07-2013 16:25:35
Whoops, sorry--read the above content more carefully and I now see that it *is* a seven year deal, which will give Felix a raise added onto his 2013 and 2014 salaries, then another 5 years beyond that.

I believe this would take him through the end of 2019, which would be his age 33 season, not 34. :)

15. By: WSChamps2014 on 02-07-2013 17:24:46
11, we basically just got his peak years at a maximum of 4-4.5 WAR value in the free agent market. While he'll probably go from a 6 WAR to an 8 WAR pitcher in his prime, hopefully starting in 2013. Essentially his first 4 years will cover the contract, leaving almost zero risk he turns into a Vernon Wells contract in his 30s. Figuring he stays relatively healthy, I could see him being worth 7 WAR/season on average over the length of the contract. That's approximately 50 WAR x $6M/WAR(combination of today's market plus the projected market after the t.v. deals). If these other teams start spending more on big name free agents, we could see Felix's contract be worth as much as $125M in excess value by the time he's 33. That's a sweet deal when you consider future payouts to FAs, which I'm sure Jack and company considered.

Remembering television will be signed in the next few years all across major league baseball, just like Texas, Anaheim, and Los Angeles all signed over the last two years. Add the new $50M bonus each team will get per season starting in I believe 2014 or 2015 and teams will start paying $6-7M/WAR over the length of contracts starting in 2015.

For instance Swisher would sign for closer to $60-70M/4 years, while Hamilton would've signed for $150M/5 years, based on what should be the new contracts we'll see in a couple more years. Felix might've been able to sign for $240M/8 years. So anyone who feels we got ripped off should sit back and watch what stars will get paid in the coming seasons

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