There’s a bit of surprisingly good news for an Athletics team that has weathered a withering run of injuries to young pitchers. As MLB.com’s Jane Lee was among those to report (Twitter links), the Oakland organization says it was actually rather encouraged by the outcome of Sean Manaea’s shoulder procedure yesterday. Though the team likely won’t be able to rely on him as a contributor in 2019, it seems there’s some hope that Manaea could be ready to return late in the season. And the long-term outlook is generally good, which is particularly promising for a hurler who is only just reaching arbitration eligibility.
More from some other prominent AL West hurlers …
- Astros southpaw Dallas Keuchel is headed for free agency in less than two months, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to think about it. As Mark Berman of FOX 26 was among those to convey (video link on Twitter), the lefty says he isn’t interested in pondering his future, preferring instead to “enjoy this team and this year.” That’s surely a sensible position to take for a variety of reasons. The 30-year-old and his teammates are, after all, trying to ramp up for a second consecutive World Series run. And he can best increase his market options and earning power by continuing to throw the ball well. Through 196 2/3 solid frames this year, Keuchel carries a 3.71 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 along with a 53.3% groundball rate. That last figure, while still strong, is well under Keuchel’s established levels, though he is compensating in some regards by holding opposing hitters to less home runs (11.2% HR/FB, 0.78 HR/9) than he has typically.
- The Mariners shouldn’t worry about the $27MM they owe Felix Hernandez in deciding his future with the club, veteran journalist Bob Dutton writes on the KLAY 1180 blog. Simply put, that’s a sunk cost. And Dutton says the M’s ought to ignore it — at least, perhaps, unless they are able to arrange some kind of trade scenario utilizing the contract. That’s not to say that the end ought to come before the start of the 2019 season, but Dutton argues it’s not a possibility the organization should shy from considering.
King Felix is a peasant now
50 years ago Charlie O Finley would have him riding a jackass on the field before a game.
I agree with the Hernandez comment. Teams do this too much. Just because they have money in on a player doesn’t mean that they have to keep them. If they are not producing, just release them. You’re paying them anyway.
Maybe do a bad trade swap with the Dodgers for Matt Kemp. The Mariners will have to eat a lot of cash, but they can get better at DH. The Dodgers can simply release Hernandez or try to get some performance from him like they did with Kemp.
Kemp is having a much better year than Felix and the Dodgers (when everyone is healthy, at least) have about a million different rotation options
I was suggesting that because Verdugo should be a much better player than Kemp next year.
Matt Kemp is not an upgrade over Nelson Cruz
Felix is well worth keeping on the roster. Let’s put it this way; someone gave Tim Lincecum a major league contract, hoping he can still find something. Felix has way more upside than Lincecum.
Barring a trade in which someone picks up part of his salary, Felix will get another shot in 2019, with the Mariners…and it’s not because of the money he’s owed, it’s because there’s a very real possibility that he can turn things around.
Great pitchers go through that kind of transformation fairly often, where they are bad for a while when their velocity drops, but then are able to learn how to pitch without dominant stuff, and be effective again.
King Felix has been passed by Prime Minister Paxton!
Felix has to take a long hard look at himself in the mirror this winter and decide if he wants to adapt to his “new normal” or stubbornly keep trying to do what he can no longer do. If it’s the former, then he should embrace a total change: go to Driveline, like Adam Ottavino did, make the mental and emotional conversion that is necessary to accept his new self, and lock himself in a room and watch tapes of C.C. Sabathia’s starts from earlier this season. That is the type of pitcher he can be at this point, which while not spectacular, is a heck of a lot more effective than what he currently is. If he still wants to be “King Felix” and not change his ways, then the M’s have no choice but to move on. This is an organization who, for well over a decade, has showered far too much misplaced loyalty on long-tenured players and front office personnel.
In the case of Felix, it would be a huge PR hit no matter how it’s handled, plus there’s the huge $$$ hit. But it may be best for the organization PROVIDED that they open up the budget to plug the rotation hole with a decent replacement. They simply cannot go into 2019 with the same rotation mix as this year… which is exactly what I said about 2018. Paxton has been dominant at times, but thoroughly mediocre at others, and still can’t stay healthy. He has yet to post 25+ starts in a major league season; that’s not an ace by means. Leake is a league-average innings eater, which makes him the only “sure” thing in the rotation right now. Gonzales looked great in the first half, but fell apart in the second half and hasn’t looked all that great since his return from the DL. LeBlanc has been a very pleasant surprise, but at age 34, can he realistically be expected to repeat this year’s unexpected performance? And Erasmo Ramirez is no longer a realistic consideration, giving his tendency to give up the long ball (13 HR in 43 IP this year; at that rate, he would shatter the all-time single season record for HR’s allowed.)
As much as I would not like to lose Nelson Cruz to free agency, if the M’s feel that money would be better allocated to the rotation, I would be okay with that. Corbin or Ryu immediately come to mind as potential free agent targets.
As for Felix, this is really in his hands now.
Dallas Keuchel gave up five runs in five innings to take a loss to the Mariners last start, moved from 3.57 ERA to 3.71 ERA.
In 196.2 innings, he has 146 strikeouts. Think he’s falling into the Astros’ price-range, despite Boras as his agent, Steve? Lol
King Felix earned every penny the M’s paid him when the Mariners were not competing. Felix decided to stay instead of signing with for instance the Yankees. Now that King is down they don’t want it. Just unfair…
I see what your saying. I agree with you to a point but at the end of the day baseball is a business and life ain’t fair!
Agreed. I’ve been a Mariner fan my whole life. I love king Felix. I’m so ignorant to say he could have done a much better job these past couple years working out in the offseason. But, he deserves every penny of that contract regardless. He was loyal to a team that never produced for him like any other team would have. Sometimes you do have to cut ties with players despite the bond they have with the team. I don’t feel this is one of those situations. He can still be effective, he just needs to rework his game, like C.C. or Bartolo when he was an A/Met
Mets trade Jay Bruce for Seattle’s King Felix
This opens up RF for Nimmo
This opens up 1B for Smith/Alonso
This keeps LF for Conforto until Cespedes comes back
Can we now finally stop the charade that is the Kings Court? If Felix really IS trying to reinvent himself as a pitch-to-contact hurler we have to end this promotion.