Updated Jul 31, 2009 - 4:53 pm

Felix on the Trades

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It kind of feels like spring training all over again, so many new faces. One face that I am glad is still here, not that I had any doubt, is that of Felix Hernandez. All season long Felix has picked up this club after a bad day. Today was bad in that they lost a popular teammate. Felix agreed.

"The last few days have been tough, we lost Ronny, Yuni, and now Wash. this is hard, but it is baseball, it is a business there is nothing you can do about it."

Despite this, he sees the upside in these moves.

"I think with Wilson at shortstop, he is a great shortstop now. Snell, he is a good pitcher and I think he going to be better here."

As for losing Wash, despite the fact that they had very little in common on the mound, Felix is a big fan of his and says that he learned a lot about competing from him.

"I spent 4 years with Wash and he was the kind of guy who if you get hit he says just get ready for the next one. Don't worry about that. I liked to watch Wash pitch. He is a competitor, goes out there and wins. He is a great pitcher."

I asked if this was hard professionally or personally and he answered simply, "Both."

As the team goes forward this year and beyond Felix has definite ideas of how he wants it to look.

"I put it in my mind the way I want the team to look. We want to win. We want to win the West. For me I just want to be in the playoffs. It is my goal. We are still good, we need to fight and win more games. That's all.

And that is all Felix can do every five days.

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• Dano#7 wrote...

  Building around King Felix

  The Mariners Organization's #1 priority is to lock up Felix Hernandez with an extension if we want to have any sort of winning future. It wouldn't hurt to sign Ichiro to a 20-year extension either..

  July 31, 2009 4:21 pm

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• motherhart wrote...

  Felix

  Why would Felix want an extention on his contract when he is surrounded by mediocre pitching. That's not how he will get to the playoffs, which is what he says he wants to do.

  July 31, 2009 5:55 pm

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• Chris from Bothell wrote...

  This feels like "stiff upper lip" from Felix

  I'm not confident he's re-signable, based on this. There's still plenty of time to convince him, obviously. This winter will be key. But still - still uneasy. Thanks so much for getting this, Shannon! Knew we could count on you for exactly this perspective...

  July 31, 2009 6:05 pm

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• Derrol_o wrote...

  Felix's take on Washburn vs Snell

  I noticed based on Shannon's article that Felix referred to Snell as a good pitcher while referring to Washburn as a great pitcher. Sounds like he's not gonna be happy with Snell taking Washburn's place on Sunday. Snell's always been a pretty tremendous talent though and if his recent stint in AAA is any indication, he's turning it around pretty fast. Snell has to go out and win over his teammates, including Felix, starting Sunday. Snell goes from AAA hitting to the burnbarrel in Arlington so it'll be a good test on whether Snell is truly on his way back or not. Snell wasn't involved in the Washburn trade but from a player like Felix's perspective, I'm guessing he probably lumps it all together. From his perspective, Wash is out and Snell is in.

  July 31, 2009 8:40 pm

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• Nursie wrote...

  The Large Elephant in the Living Room

  Shannon... No one seems to talk about it, but what are our [albeit limited] options with Silva? You never hear the trainers talk about this or that. No line on him "coming back". He's being paid to sit. Being paid a lot. I'm sure that he's a nice fellow, good to his family, and well liked by his teammates. All those factors haven't stopped other "bottom line, baseball is a business" decisions being made. How can we get out from under? How long will this go on?

  August 1, 2009 3:44 pm

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• Dano#7 wrote...

  What do you think, Shannon??

  "Mariners Concerned About Keeping Hernandez" 2nd August, 2009 - 11:08 am Boston Globe - The Mariners listened to offers for pitcher Felix Hernandez prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. "[GM] Jack [Zduriencik] listened but in the end he knew he couldn't possibly get enough to trade one of the best young pitchers in the game," an assistant general manager from the American League told the Boston Globe. Seattle is worried that they won't be able to re-sign Hernandez to a long-term deal. ---------------END QUOTE-------------- My question is basically this: What are the chances of us keeping Felix and signing him long term? Another interesting pitcher out there is Dice-K. Just wondering if it's plausible to have both of them.. :) Thanks!

  August 2, 2009 8:46 pm

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