Per Baker, the M's were close to a deal that would have sent Felix Hernandez to Boston in a three team trade involving the Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Seattle. Of course this hasn't been confirmed and never will, but according to one of Baker's "sources" the deal would have netted the M's first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, pitcher Clay Buchholz and a couple other prospects (probably similar to the ones gained in the Washburn deal).
I'm not quite sure what I would have felt if the M's made this trade, if it was in fact under consideration. Let's take a look at what the entire trade would have looked like.
Boston gets:
Felix Hernandez (From Seattle)
Seattle gets:
Adrian Gonzalez (From San Diego)
Clay Buchholz (From Boston)
Minor League Players
San Diego gets:
Brandon Morrow (From Seattle)
Philippe Aumont (From Seattle)
Carlos Triunfel (From Seattle)
Prospects (From Boston)
Now, according to the story, the reasoning for declining the trade was Jack Z felt he could have leveraged a similar package for Felix next year and because of that, felt there was little need to pull the trigger. Here's what I think, the players in the deal didn't absolutely wow Z like they would need to in order to deal Felix. Don't get me wrong, Adrian Gonzalez might be the most dominant young left-hitting first baseman in the majors. But he's the only player who has proven himself in the majors. Buchholz, while good, does not have the experience to guarantee he won't bust.
Not to mention...look at what the Mariners would have been giving up to get Gonzalez and Buccholz. Two 1st round draft picks and the top prospect in the M's organization in Carlos Triunfel. Would this have helped the organization in the longer term? I don't think so, we would have given up three of our most prized pitching prospects. That would have killed our pitching staff for 2011. Now, who's to say whether this same deal won't get made next year, cause it could very much happen. But at this moment, I'm glad Jack held off on this one.
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If we get rid of Felix, I'm going to quit watching the Mariners and root for....well I don't like any other teams, so I'll just be pissed off, but the point is Felix is the only consistently good pitcher the Mariners have had for the last....as long as I can remember back to Randy Johnson, and even he wasn't all that consistent when he was here.
ReplyDelete...Besides I like Felix and he needs to stay in Seattle.
While I agree that losing Felix would really suck from many angles, calling him the most consistent pitcher since Randy Johnson is crazy. Felix has been lights out for this season, sure, but you're over looking pitchers like Aaron Sele, Jamie Moyer, and to a lesser extent JJ Putz. Felix is only now figuring out how to truely pitch in the big leagues this year. Granted, he's very young.
ReplyDeleteAlso, impling that Randy Johnson was anything but consistent from 1994 until he was traded for the Mariner's is madness. He consistently was a league leader in wins and strikeouts.
It took him a few years to learn out to harness his "stuff" (see Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez) but once it happened, he was un-hittable. This is why I would hate to see Felix get traded, because he looks to be on the path of these same greats.
I'm with Doug. No Felix = No Mariners for me. Felix is one of the few players that I tune in to watch. He is absolutely amazing and will probably be one of the few DOMINATE pitchers in the AL for years to come.
ReplyDeleteIf we do trade Felix it better be for Jesus(Christ) - I bet he can crush a fastball!