King Felix extended for 7 years, $175M

[jackie hayes]

I'm sorta surprised I can't find a thread on this already, so if I missed it, feel free to delete, mods. H/t rotoworld. Linkage:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ml ... r/1899241/

Given Greinke's contract, not a shocker. Now, what does Verlander eventually get...

[Frenchiegangsta9]

Solid deal for both sides. This 7 year deal includes his 2013-2014 seasons which means Felix will be 33 at the end of the contract. As for Verlander, he is 29 and most likely any extension he signs will guarantee him a similar AAV as Hernandez's contract.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/02/m ... -deal.html

[Ender]

I think the Mariners will regret this deal but I completely understand why they did it.

[jackie hayes]

I think the Mariners will regret this deal but I completely understand why they did it.

Given his age, why do you think they'll regret it? Workload? Payroll flexibility?

[Ender]

Workload. Ease of pitching in that park. The fact his velocity is down 2 MPH over the last year and a half. The general track record of young pitchers who throw that many innings that young.

[GiantsFan14]

I think the Mariners will regret this deal but I completely understand why they did it.

Given his age, why do you think they'll regret it? Workload? Payroll flexibility?

Because it's a very large amount of money and years for pretty much any pitcher.

[Grounded Polo]

Ton of money to spend on one guy but who else on that team would you want to have signed for anything more than a year to year basis? His extremely high workload is scary but Felix could end up being a hall of fame pitcher and I'm guessing their fan base can accept his arm falling off by year 5 over signing a guy to a 4 year contract and watching him do absolutely nothing the entire time (Jason Bay, Hello). On the plus side, if he does get hurt and isn't the same when he gets back, he's a smart enough pitcher to still be effective when he returns ala Johan, think the odds of him being completely dead weight by years 6/7 are still as low as they can be for a pitcher.

[kab21]

I think the Mariners will regret this deal but I completely understand why they did it.

Would it be fair to say that this is true of any 100+M contract?

Here's what I see:
A pitcher that hasn't shown any durability issues yet
A pitcher that doesn't depend on his slider that much
A contract that ends at age 33/34
velocity might be down but K's are increasing and BB's decreasing every season - maybe the velocity is still there but he knows that he doesn't need it?

It's absolutely a lot of money but I think I like it more than the end of Pujols', Fielder's, Votto's and a bunch of hitter's that recently signed contracts until they are almost 40. And this is acknowledging that pitchers are a huge risk.

[GiantsFan14]

It just seems crazy that this is what it takes to lock up a pitcher two years away from free agency. How much could he have gotten on the open market?

[kab21]

It just seems crazy that this is what it takes to lock up a pitcher two years away from free agency. How much could he have gotten on the open market?

Greinke and Lee got almost the same AAV (for 6 and 5 yrs) despite being A) worse and older and B) being quite old. It's crazy to think how much Felix would have gotten on the open market.