A few weeks after Felix Hernandez was snubbed by his major league peers – he didn’t rank among the top three American League pitchers in the Players Choice awards – the Mariners ace got what he deserved Tuesday.
He finished second in the Cy Young Award voting, behind Kansas City’s Zack Greinke. And though Greinke won in a landslide, accumulating 25 of 28 first-place votes, at least Hernandez was in the conversation for the most prestigious of pitching trophies.
The baseball writers did more than identify Hernandez’s breakout season as Cy Young-worthy. They dispelled the myth that players on the cusp of superstardom can’t gain national attention outside such major markets as New York, Chicago and Boston.
Greinke is Kansas City’s third Cy Young winner of the past 30 years; Minnesota and Oakland also have been represented three times. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees’ lone Cy Young recipient since 1979 was Roger Clemens, whose work appears to have been artificially enhanced.
True, the big-market clubs use virtually unlimited budgets to lure talent cultivated elsewhere. Cleveland, for instance, boasted back-to-back Cy Young winners in CC Sabathia (2007) and Cliff Lee (2008), and they just faced each other in a Yankees-Phillies World Series. But the pitchers achieved acclaim with the Indians.
Which brings us back to Hernandez, who is never discussed without some mention of his uncertain status with the Mariners. He’s under the club’s control for two more seasons, but if management can’t work out a deal that extends his contract through, say, 2013, it would be foolish to rule out a trade for a package of big-league-proven players and elite prospects.
The knee-jerk reflex is to presume Hernandez is anxious to prove himself on a larger stage, under brighter lights than he’ll ever command in Seattle. It’s a notion fortified by history: Alex Rodriguez wanted out. So did Randy Johnson and, once upon a time, Ken Griffey Jr.
Felix Hernandez won’t be any different. He’ll explain his craving to be closer to home – he can’t be any farther from his Venezuelan roots than he is in Seattle, unless he bolts for Japan – and he’ll talk about wanting to participate in a World Series before he retires.
If I’m speculating about the long term, I’d say it’s a cinch that Hernandez is wearing another team’s uniform 10 years from now. It’s the way of the baseball world: When Tom Glavine and John Smoltz can cut ties with the Atlanta Braves, nothing is permanent.
But what about the short term? What are the chances the Mariners can talk Hernandez into staying in Seattle for four more years?
I think the chances are solid, and here’s why:
• Manager Don Wakamatsu. As Hernandez was losing focus in the middle of May, going through the motions, a little bit bored and very much distracted, Wakamatsu knew what buttons to push. More important, he knew how to push them. He called out Hernandez minutes after a sluggish effort against the Angels, demanding the pitcher take pride in the nuances of his craft.
For the first time in his professional life – and, quite possibly, the last time – Hernandez was challenged by an authority figure. His response to the challenge was underscored Tuesday, when he finished ahead of Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay and Sabathia in the Cy Young vote.
Wakamatsu isn’t the only manager capable of motivating Hernandez, but he’s the only manager whose tactics have achieved such startling results. Hernandez knows what’s good for him, and having Wakamatsu in the dugout is good for him.
• Safeco Field. OK, so the occasional night game in April and May and part of June and part of September can find a pitcher struggling to warm up and break a sweat. But there’s no short porch, and no mysterious jet stream helping to launch cheap home runs. Can the same case be made for the new Yankee Stadium?
• The Mariners organization. When Hernandez agreed to his first contract with Seattle, at the age of 16, he turned down a more lucrative signing bonus offer with the Braves. (Actually, his father, then serving as his de facto agent, turned down the Braves.) Hernandez’s family had enjoyed a cordial relationship with the Mariners’ South American scouts, and though the scouting department has been revamped, the nautical compass logo remains intact.
The Mariners are his team, and Seattle is his big-league town, and if you don’t think that matters, you weren’t paying attention when Griffey returned to the club after heeding the advice of an old friend.
Willie Mays.
• Hernandez’s age. He’s 23, younger than either the AL Rookie of the Year (Oakland reliever Andrew Bailey) or the NL Rookie of the Year (Florida outfielder Chris Coghlan). It will be the chore of general manager Jack Zduriencik to talk Hernandez into voiding his pending contract and striking up a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $80 million.
If such a contract is feasible, Hernandez will be 27 when it expires in 2013. Then he’ll be free to, uh, really hit the jackpot.
Four more years of King Felix: I like the sound of it. Then again, I like the sound of 14 more years of King Felix, but why be greedy?
john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com
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