Ryan Divish of The News Tribune says the Mariners must find a way to sign Felix Hernandez to a long-term contract extension. Divish says simply, "There is no pitcher in the organization who is comparable in terms of talent or potential. None. He’s an ace, a front-of-the-rotation horse who doesn’t come around often. And you need to keep him."
Hernandez is making $3.8MM this season and is under club control until 2011. Obviously the M's want to get this done. In March 2008, they reportedly made an offer but talks seemingly stagnated. Before 2008, $15-17MM seemed a fair amount to buy out his arbitration years. So far in 2009, Hernandez's price tag has surely increased and it's scary to think he could improve further. Divish notes,
"[Hernandez] would rather give up back-to-back grand slams than talk about his contract status. Why? Perhaps he doesn’t want the distraction, or perhaps he is looking forward to free agency and the certainly gargantuan payday that most likely awaits him."
