Felix Hernandez, the 23-year-old ace, has signed a long-term extension to stay with the Mariners, ESPN.com reported. SI.com's Jon Heyman reported on Tuesday via Twitter that the deal is for five years, while exact terms of the deal are not yet known. Various sources believe the value of the contract is somewhere around $80 million.
For the Mariners, it completes a busy and successful offseason. They signed third baseman Chone Figgins out of free agency, traded for 2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and acquired Milton Bradley via trade. Meanwhile, the team that won the AL West last season got worse, as the Angels lost Figgins and John Lackey to free agency, as well as Vladimir Guerrero. The Mariners, who finished 12 games back last season, figure to be in the mix for a playoff push in 2010.
Hernandez has four years of service time in the majors, meaning he'd be due to become a free agent at the end of the 2011 season. That situation led many to believe Hernandez could be traded before the deadline in either 2010 or 2011 if the Mariners felt they couldn't afford to sign him to an extension. At the very least, teams figured they may have a shot at making a run at him as a free agent in the 2011 offseason. However, it's fairly clear that the Mariners never wanted to see that happen.
Hernandez made his major league debut in 2005, and he's been steadily improving ever since. In his career, he is 58-41 with a 3.45 ERA in 905 innings. Last season, he went 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA and 217 strikeouts. He was tied for the AL lead in wins and was second in ERA, finishing second in Cy Young voting to Kansas City's Zack Greinke.
