The time is now...

to trade Felix Hernandez.

Before I explain, first let me say a couple things about myself.  I am a die-hard Mariners fan, have been since I can remember.  I have been to hundreds of games over the years, all the losses and a few of the wins.  I watch them on TV with an almost religious zealous, too my girlfriend's chagrin.  Most of my friends and family jumped ship years ago, but not me.  I still hold out hope that one day my Mariners will win it all, and I can celebrate with all the bandwagon fans when it happens.  I am also a huge Felix Hernandez fan.  This league hasn't seen many young pitchers as dominant as him over the last few decades.  Felix, or King Felix as he has been anointed, is the epitome of what an ace pitcher is and should be.  In almost every game he will undoubtedly give you 8-9 innings of pure pitching at its finest.  His passion for the game exudes in his confidence on the mound.  So there you have it, I love the Mariners and I love King Felix.

Here is where I make my decision about which I love more.  The team, or the player?  Back when I was a kid, I would have said the player.  I was a huge Ryne Sandberg fan and wouldn't have cared what team he played on.  But as I have grown older, I have come to realize that it is so much more about the team than the individual.  One player does not define a team, or shouldn't at least, and if he does then I believe it is time to cut bait and move on for the betterment of the team.  That's not to say that doing such a thing comes without heartache and pain.  Deciding to part ways with a beloved hero brings about a myriad of issues and questions that the team must first answer before making it's final decision to do so.  How will the fans react?  How will the organization move forward?  Making that decision to trade your star player does not come without its downsides, but as an organization you must weight the pros and cons and make the decision that makes the most sense for the team.  For me, that decision would be to trade Henandez now while you can get the most bang for your buck, and before he pulls a Randy Johnson on you.  Please tell me you remember that fiasco?


Without boring you with all the statistics, we all know Felix has been dominant for most of his career.  Innings, strikeouts, making fools of opposing hitters  But if this year is any indication, he is starting to show some signs of decline, if only minimal.  His drop in velocity really isn't all that shocking considering his workload over the years.  Not many pitchers his age have piled up as many innings he has.  And before those of you who want to talk about pitchers from the 50's and 60's, save your breath because its comparing apples to oranges.  Today's pitchers are not trained or conditioned to throw complete games every time out.  Sad to say, but it's the truth.  So moving on, we nee to look at some other signs that the team may be better off without him.  He's not getting hitters out with ease as he has in the past.  Far to often he has looked more human than not.  Teams aren't fearing him the way they used to.  Every fifth game doesn't seem quite like the near automatic victory it should be.  That brings me to my Randy Johnson inference above.  If we don't strike now while the iron is still hot,  we could see things get worse in a hurry.  With the Mariners in ability to score runs and win on a consistent basis, it wears on a pitcher.  Add to that the desire to win championships and you can quickly add up the reasons why Felix just might not care anymore.  Now before I get flamed, I am not suggesting that Felix is bombing on purpose right now, but come next year you have to start wondering as such if his decline continues on the path it is on today.

Randy Johnson had enough losing
before he took matters into his own hands.
Will Felix do the same if the M's don't start winning?

Felix has an ingrained desire to win and my bet is he wants to win for a championship caliber team. The Mariners are far from that team and won't be for at least the next several years.  His still relatively young age, and his past performance, should be enough to get any team in contention hot and bothered by his availability.  Take the Yankees for example, they continue to ask year after year if Felix can be traded.  They are like vultures circling over a carcass in the desert.  Take into account his remaining contract and you've more than doubled his value.  I say take advantage of the situation now while the cards are stacked in your favor.  The return the Mariners could get by trading a proven commodity like Hernandez should be astronomical.  I'm talking 2-3 blue chip prospects, plus additional quality players in return.  You don't believe me or think I'm crazy?  Find me a GM from a contending team that wouldn't make that move.  Championships pay bigger dividends than prospects, just ask the Mariners.  They have no titles and so far their prospects aren't developing into a championship caliber squad.  Trading Felix now also diminishes the possibility of reliving the same Randy Johnson saga that played out several years ago.

So for the love of my team, I am willing to part ways with one of the most dominant pitchers in this league.  I will be sad, and may even cry a little, but mostly because I know what's best in the long run.  I'm with Jack Z in his youth movement, and I ask him to go all in with this move.  We'll be a lot closer to contending in 2014-15 than if he sits on this goldmine of an opportunity and waits any longer.


Thanks Felix!  It's been a fun ride.  Come back and say hi from time to time.  There will be no hard feelings this time around.  You did your part, and we gave you a crown.  Enjoy the playoffs and do us proud, win it all and shout it loud.  And when you get that coveted ring, remember who anointed you King.

***FRIDAY MORNING EDIT***
TRADE HIM NOW!!!  After last night's 1-0, 13K, CG, shutout, there is no better time to trade Felix than today.  That performance will be stuck in the heads of every GM long enough for Jack Z to take what he wants and rob them blind.  It pains me to write this kind of stuff after such a stellar performance, but when you sit back and realize we only scored 1 run ourselves, it becomes crystal clear that the M's need so much more than what Felix offers them on his own.  This team is horrible offensively and won't win many 1-0 games, even with Felix on the mound.  Remove the blinders, step out of the fog, trading King Felix can and should be the best thing to happen to the Mariners since, well, since they signed him.

Vlad is Mad, why not bring him to Seattle?

Vladimir Guerrero was just released by the Toronto Blue Jays after a brief stint with their AAA club in Las Vegas.  Guerrero was hitting .358 with 4 HR and 12 RBI.  When he signed his deal with Toronto, both sides set a date at which point a decision would be made to promote or release the one time AL MVP.  That date came and went, which prompted Vlad to pack his bags following a game on Monday.  Blue Jays officials said there just wasn't any room on their MLB roster so they followed through with their agreement to release him.

Jack Z, are you reading this?  Get on the phone now and have this guy in uniform before the day is over!  You hear me?

The Mariners signing Vlad makes way to much sense to me.  The M's need that veteran presence in their lineup in a bad way.  Signing Vlad would be cheap and could provide that presence.  It would also allow the M's to make a few more moves without even blinking.  Figgins could be released immediately.  Olivo could be put on the trading block and hopefully shipped off before he has another passed ball.  Montero and Jaso could easily hold down the catching duties for the year.  Vlad could be the DH on the days Montero caught and then be used sparingly in the outfield on days Montero was DHing.  It just makes too much sense.  Not to mention that by having Vald in the lineup you can start to take away any pressure from the likes of Smoak, Montero and Saunders to be the big bat in the lineup.

I challenge anyone to dispute my thinking and offer up reasons why it wouldn't work.

My Kind of Math, 6 equals 0 for the M's Pitchers

Six Mariners Pitchers Combine for No-No

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

In one of the most unlikely of scenarios, the Seattle Mariners pitching staff tied a MLB record last night when six different pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers came into Safeco sporting the best record in baseball at 37-21, but missing their star Matt Kemp.  Early on, M's starter Kevin Millwood was dealing and had total command of his fastball, owning the Dodgers and striking out 6 through the first six innings.  He was perfect through four innings, before issuing a lead off walk to Juan Rivera in the 5th.  Rivera was quickly erased when Bobby Abreu hit into a 3-6-3 double play.

Heading to the top of the seventh, Millwood came out to begin his warm-ups, tossing one pitch before signaling to the dugout that something was wrong.  Mariners manager Eric Wedge, and team trainer Rick Griffin, headed out to the mound to see what had happened.  Soon after, Wedge signaled to the bullpen and Millwood headed for the training room.  It was later learned that Millwood had a strained right groin.

In came Charlie Furbush, who hadn't had a chance to get warm in the bullpen.  He quickly got Dee Gordon to fly out to center for the first out, no-hitter still intact.  The next batter, Herrera, hit a grounder that Furbush fielded cleanly but he hurried his throw, which got by Justin Smoak at first base.  The throwing error allowed Herrera to reach third and put a runner in scoring position, with the score still tied at zero.  Furbush settled himself down and struck out Andre Ethier swinging for the second out.  Wedge decided at that point to play the match-up and bring in his flame throwing rookie, Stephen Pryor.  Pryor made quick work of Rivera, striking him out to end the inning and continue the no-no into the eighth.

In the bottom of the seventh  the M's got two out rather quickly as both Carp and Kawasaki went down on strikes.  Up came Suzuki, who was already 2 for 3 on the night.  In true Ichiro fashion, he beat out an infield single for this third hit of the game.  He quickly stole second, with no throw from the catcher, putting the Mariners in scoring position.  Ackley followed with a walk, bringing up Kyle Seager.  Seager, the Mariners leading RBI man, quickly fell behind 1-2 before lacing a single into left field off the glove of Dodger shortstop Dee Gordon.  Suzuki raced around and scored from second giving the Mariners all the offense they would need in this one.

Pryor returned to the mound in the top of the eight but quickly showed signs of control issues, walking both Abreu and Hairston Jr. on nine pitches.  Lucas Leutge came in to relive Pryor to face James Loney.  Loney laid down a nice sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position with one out.  Wedge headed back out and wanted his former closer, Brandon League, to come in and shut things down.  He did just that, getting Ellis to line out and Gwynn to strikeout swinging.

The M's didn't do anything more in their half of the eighth, setting up one final half inning of history.  Without hesitation, Wedge brought in his new closer, Tom Wilhelmsen to finish off the Dodgers.  The Bartender, as he has been nicknamed, worked fast and quickly got Dee Gordon to bounce a grounder to short.  Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan, who had just entered the game as defensive replacement, had to charge to make the play and made a quick throw to first the just got Gordon to keep the no-hitter going.  Dodgers manger Don Mattingly sprinted out to have a discussion with the first base umpire, Ted Barrett, but was quickly shot down and soon retreated back to his visiting dugout.  Herrera then stepped to the plate and quickly made the second out with a liner right to Ryan.  With he crowd on their feet, flashes going off all around the stadium, in stepped Ethier with one last chance to break up history.  After fouling off the first pitch, Ethier hit a hard grounder to Ackley at second, where ho tossed the ball softly to Smoak for the final out of the game.

Mariners rookie catcher, Jesus Montero, sprinted to the mound and jumped into the waiting arms of Wilhelmsen to celebrate.  Montero would later tell the media that Wilhelmsen had to be told why they were celebrating so much, apparently not fully aware of what had just happened.  The Mariners as a team actually looked as though they didn't know how to celebrate and quickly moved their excitement into the clubhouse, where they had the opportunity to catch up with starter, Millwood, and finish their celebration.

The Mariners have seen their ups and downs so far this season, but a game like this can potentially spark something great in the long run.  Time will tell how they react to what they accomplished and how it carries them through the rest of their season.


Interesting Facts About the No-Hitter
No-hitters happen almost every year, this was the fourth one so far in 2012, but combined no-hitters are a rare occurrence.  In fact, this was only the tenth combined no hitter in MLB history.  The last time a team combined on a no-hitter was almost 9 years prior, when the Houston Astros also had six pitchers combine to no-hit the New York Yankees.  There were a couple other rarities with this one as well.  This was only the third time in history that a team threw a no-hitter to have also been no hit during the same season.  The Mariners fell victim to the Phil Humber's perfect game nearly seven weeks prior.  Kevin Millwood also became only the fourth pitcher in history to throw no-hitter by himself and be part of a combined no-hitter in his career.