Former Mariners ace Felix Hernandez to compete for roster, rotation spot with Braves
Felix Hernandez will get a shot to make a major league roster this season — it just won’t be with Seattle.
For the first time in more than a decade, the Mariners will open spring camp next month in Arizona without their longtime ace. Hernandez, who is now 33, will instead head to Florida, aiming to earn a roster spot with the Braves.
Hernandez agreed to a minor league deal with Atlanta on Monday, which includes a non-roster invite to big league camp. He would reportedly earn $1 million if he makes the Braves’ 40-man roster, and compete for the club’s fifth rotation spot.
In 15 seasons with the Mariners, the former Cy Young winner compiled a 169-136 record with a 3.42 ERA across more than 2,700 innings, logged 2,524 strikeouts and tossed baseball’s most recent perfect game in 2012.
But, his productivity dipped in his later seasons in Seattle, he dealt with lengthy injuries, and he ultimately wrapped up his tenure with the club in September, finishing the season with a 1-8 record and 6.40 ERA in 15 starts.
The 2019 season was the final of his seven-year, $175 million extension with the Mariners, and his contract was not revisited.
Hernandez pitched his final game for Seattle in front of an emotional crowd, thousands of whom were sporting his yellow King’s Court T-shirts, during the final week of the season and alluded there was more to come — even if it wasn’t with the Mariners — during a postgame press conference.
Hernandez reaffirmed claims he made throughout the season, while he dealt with multiple injuries, that he did not plan to retire when his contract with Seattle was up.
“There’s more,” he said that night. “There’s a bit more. I don’t know what’s going to happen next year … but we’ll see.”
