Felix Hernandez is a very good pitcher. The Seattle Mariners rewarded him yesterday with a 7 year, $175 million deal making him the richest pitcher in baseball history.
At 26 years of age, he's almost young enough to be worth that much.
The problem? It's the same problem that every team has when they sign a player to a long-term, high money deal.
IF he doesn't perform well, for ANY reason, for the entire length of his contract, he has effectively destroyed the Mariners franchise. One elbow injury. A Tommy John surgery. Tearing a spleen while shoveling snow... ANYTHING could stop this from being a good deal for the Mariners.
Even if HE stays healthy, it will be difficult for the Mariners to sign and keep their rising stars because of the huge investment they made in Felix.
I have said it before and I'll continue to say it. Big-money, long-term deals rarely work out.
A-Rod did great for the Rangers when he signed his first deal, and he STILL almost killed the franchise because the Rangers couldn't afford to buy him better teammates (so that the franchise could actually be a winner.) It wasn't until they unloaded him to the Yankees that they finally became winners.
The Twins found out that the Mauer deal killed their franchise in about half a season. They have no hope of recovery as long as they have his long-term deal in place.
The Yankees basically have unlimited funds. THEY can make that mistake as often as they want. No one else can.
The Mariners franchise just became the latest in a long line of franchises who have spent their money foolishly hoping to hold onto a young star.
Oh, and spring training is officially underway in Florida. Wake me up when Mauer and his contract are gone. THEN I'll have a reason to care again. Until then, I'll just hope the Vikings somehow become a smarter franchise and that Adrian Peterson stays healthy.
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