Following Felix Hernandez’s latest outing – a dominant two-hit shutout against the San Diego Padres – two obvious thoughts came to mind.

Thought One: Wow, the Padres are really awful offensively. Hernandez has had days with better stuff and better command, and yet he still carved them up with brutal efficiency. And Adrian Gonzalez, the Padres’ best hitter? Well, Hernandez just wore him out with fastballs on the inside half of the plate that he could never catch up with, sending him to an 0-for-4 day.

Thought Two: The Mariners really need to find a way to sign Hernandez to a long-term contract extension.

Neither of these thoughts is exactly original.

In fact, any time Hernandez has a strong outing, the next day the two local sports-talk stations are deluged with callers – some bright, some, uh, not so much – demanding the Mariners lock up Hernandez before he becomes a free agent and heads out of town.

Even the most ignorant baseball fans can see the logic in this, even if he’s under club control until 2011.

Remember, Hernandez isn’t without his faults. He can be immature, petulant, stubborn, undisciplined and frustrating. Just ask Mariner manager Don Wakamatsu after the Los Angeles Angels stole five bases off him in one game a few weeks back. The unusually calm Wakamatsu was somewhere past irked and just short of angry when he said: “Sometimes you ask guys to step up, and I don’t think he stepped up today.”

When asked about his showing and if he was disappointed, Hernandez snorted: “I’m not frustrated, hell no,” he said. “For me, it was a good performance. I made good pitches, and they just hit the ball in the holes.”

The next day the two met and had a closed-door “discussion” of what Wakamatsu felt was a good outing and what Hernandez needed to do to get there.

In a word: focus. Focus on getting ahead. Focus on keeping his game plan and not reverting back to throwing heat when he gets in a game. Focus on controlling the running game. Focus on the little things because that will lead to focus on the big things.

And since that little meeting, Hernandez has been everything Mariners fans believed he could be, going 3-0 in his last five starts with an 0.72 ERA.

Lets not kid ourselves, for the minimal faults Hernandez has – much of which can be attributed to age – ask yourself: how focused and mature were you at age 22? There is still so much that is right about him.

Obviously, he’s talented. His right arm can propel a baseball with power on one pitch, finesse on the next. He’s competitive, almost to a fault. He wants to stay in games. He wants to pitch. His work ethic is much improved. He’s no longer the chubby kid with a mass of hair hanging out of the cap. He’s cut his weight and improved his conditioning and looks like an athlete on the mound. It hasn’t quite become the case at Safeco, but with his charisma and talent, every day he takes the mound should be a must-see event. Why? Because the opportunity of seeing something fantastic looms when he steps on the mound. A shutout, 14-plus strikeouts, a no-hitter – those are all within the realm of possibility.

But here’s the main reason to sign Hernandez. 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.

To be sure, this is something the Mariners understand. They would love to sign Hernandez to an extension and keep him in Seattle for the foreseeable future.

Really this comes down to Hernandez and what he wants. Ask him about a contract extension and he just waves his hand and says, “I don’t want to talk about it,” or “I don’t think about that.” He’d 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. As a fan, it’s easy to say, re-sign now, stay with the team that gave you your chance, stay loyal to your adoring fans, stay for the security now compared to the uncertainty of the future.

But it’s a vastly different view from Hernandez’s perspective. The decision isn’t quite so simple. Try it. Pull your Mariners cap low to your ears with the bill slightly askew to the left. Throw in six pieces of bubble gum to smack on. Pull the bottom of your pants past the heels of your shoes. And then look at the pros and cons of signing an extension or waiting for a free-agent contract.

Reasons Felix should stay:

1. MONEY: The Mariners may be trying to dump some payroll, but they’ve never been afraid to pay for players. Of course, the last regime spent $24 million on Kenji Johjima and $48 million on Carlos Silva. But Seattle does pay.

2. SAFECO FIELD: Besides Petco Park, there might not be a better pitchers’ park than Safeco, where right-handed power hitters turn into gap hitters.

3. THE FRANCHISE: In three or four years, he would be the face of it. Griffey and Ichiro will eventually retire, and it will be Felix’s all to himself.

4. COMFORT: In a way, the Northwest still has a small-town feel. Felix can go about his life outside of baseball without being hassled whenever he leaves the house.

5. NEW MANAGEMENT: This team seems to be headed in the right direction under first-year manager Don Wakamatsu and general manager Jack Zduriencik, and Felix has to see that.

Reasons Felix should go:

1. MONEY: Yes, the Mariners pay. But they don’t give Yankees or Mets or Red Sox coin. It isn’t impossible to think he could get $15 million a year in the right free-agent market.

2. FAME: People in the Northwest know how good Felix is, and so do die-hard baseball fans. But look at how popular Joba Chamberlain is for the Yankees, and he hasn’t accomplished half of what Felix has in his career.

3. CONTENDING TEAM: As competitive as the Mariners have been this season, they still are maybe two or three years away from being a contender. But there’s always going to be a better team out there.

4. FAMILY: He has one, and playing in the right city could make it easier to see them – call it the Griffey-to-Cincy principle.

5. NATIONAL LEAGUE: There’s a reason Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt don’t want to leave; it’s way easier to pitch there. Could you imagine Felix consistently facing the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters of an NL team?

POWER RANKINGS

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (1): Manny Ramirez is headed to Albuquerque, N.M. Ten bucks says he has no idea where it is.

2. Boston Red Sox (2): John Smoltz is coming off the DL and ready to join the rotation. Which pitcher is out?

3. New York Yankees (3): Thank you, Brian Bruney, for saying what everybody else thinks about Francisco Rodriguez’s antics on the mound.

4. Milwaukee Brewers (5): Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy have finally started hitting – this team could be dangerous.

5. Texas Rangers (7): Part of Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez’s contract with the team is for a new walker.

6. Philadelphia Phillies (4): Right now, Philly would take an injured Erik Bedard over three-fifths of its rotation.

7. Detroit Tigers (6): Scott Boras doesn’t think Magglio Ordoñez deserved to be benched. He also believed Manny Ramirez was worth $50 million.

8. St. Louis Cardinals (8): Maybe it’s mean, but watching Joel Piñeiro battle a leg cramp was kind of funny.

9. Toronto Blue Jays (10): Closer Scott Downs is the latest Blue Jays pitcher to spend some time on the disabled list.

10. Los Angeles Angels (11): Vlad Guerrero may have aged an extra year on paper, but it looks like an extra 10 on the field.

11. Minnesota Twins (13): Kevin Slowey wins his 10th game of the season, second-most in the majors. It’s OK to not know who he is.

12. New York Mets (11): K-Rod blows a save and tells the media he’s human. That’s quite evident in the postseason.

13. Tampa Bay Rays (16): Who on the team is leading all of baseball in slugging? Not Longoria. Not Peña. It’s Ben Zobrist. Who?

14. Colorado Rockies (19): They are 15-5 under new manager Jim Tracy. Perhaps managerial changes do work.

15. San Francisco Giants (9): It looks as though Tim Lincecum is growing a mullet in honor of teammate Randy Johnson

16. Florida Marlins (21): The Yankees come to Miami, and the Marlins are just happy to have fans, regardless of who they’re cheering for.

17. Cincinnati Reds (12): Dusty Baker’s asking fans for patience with Willy Taveras’ hitting, something Taveras hasn’t shown at the plate.

18. Chicago Cubs (18): Lou Piniella says he isn’t a fire-breathing dragon, but smoke used to come from his nostrils on occasion.

19. Seattle Mariners (17): Carlos Silva is sent to the 60-day DL and might not be back this season.

20. Atlanta Braves (15): They’ve been held to three runs or fewer 30 times this season. The record in those games – 3-27.

21. Chicago White Sox (20): Ozzie Guillen says he pukes every time he goes to Wrigley Field. Enough Old Style will do that to you.

22. San Diego Padres (22): If you’re an opposing team, why would you throw Adrian Gonzalez a strike, ever?

23. Kansas City Royals (27): Suddenly Zack Greinke isn’t just hittable, he’s also beatable – like the Royals.

24. Arizona Diamondbacks (29): Mark Reynolds is on pace to strike out 229 times this season. Somewhere, Joe DiMaggio is crying.

25. Pittsburgh Pirates (23): Nyjer Morgan and Andrew McCutchen are one of the fastest duos in the big leagues.

26. Baltimore Orioles (28): After a slow start, Matt Wieters is starting to figure out major league pitching.

27. Cleveland Indians (25): Travis Hafner is hitting since he was activated off the DL, but will it continue?

28. Houston Astros (24): Mike Hampton is on the disabled list. It’s stunning. It’s unbelievable. It’s a yearly tradition.

29. Oakland A’s (26): Vin Mazzaro’s solid debut adds another young, talented arm to a staff full of them.

30. Washington Nationals (30):Manny Acta hasn’t been fired yet. Any bets he makes it to the next set of power rankings?

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483

ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com