Stop, Felix Time

Nineteen-year-old Felix Hernandez, the jewel of the Mariners minor league system, is now an experienced major leaguer. Sure the experience is extremely limited, but Baseball America’s top prospect started today’s game in Detroit, and as anyone who knows anything about the game will tell you, once you face Craig Monroe you have arrived.

As excited as we are to watch Hernandez pitch for the Mariners over the coming years, we are a little disappointed that he was promoted this season.

Why bring him up now? This season is lost. All the Mariners are doing is costing Hernandez a year of major league experience, and therefore making him eligible for free agency sooner-- as happened with Alex Rodriguez when they brought him up in 1994, who was then eligible to become a jerk after the 2000 when he could have become one after the record breaking 2001 season.

Our fellow Seattlest scribe Seth put it this way; “Using Hernandez in this washout season is moronic. It's like, if you were going to be able to own a Maserati for five calendar years and five calendar years only, would you buy it in December to take your grandma to the dentist?”

Everyone in the Mariners organization is excited and feels that he is ready for this level, Hernandez has said that he is ready, and since they are the ones who actually know what they are doing they get to make the call. Besides we are tired of watching A’s fans have all the fun with their pitching prospects turned Hall of Famers.

Regardless of our feelings, we will be at Safeco soon to watch him pitch. Buy his statue.

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By David in News on August 4, 2005 10:52 AM

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Red Sox

the reds sox r good!

Zach

David, I'm sorry to say it but you're wrong about Felix and starting his arbitration clock, as you are about Alex Rodriguez. Players must be on a major league roster for (about) 90 days for the year to count, at which point they are eligable for free agency six years later. A-Rod's 1994 call-up didn't last that long, which is why he wasn't a free agent until 2000. It was the call-up in 1995 that pushed him over the edge, as evidenced by counting the years he was a "big-leaguer"...1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 (at which point he was a free agent). This year, Felix won't get passed that mark, so his arbitration clock won't start ticking until 2006 at the earliest. Thus, the only danger in bringing him up is that he might get hurt, but that could have happened at Tacoma, of course