Trading Felix is a terrible idea

Ken Rosenthal suggested that Jack Zduriencik trade Felix Hernandez.  He suggests the Yankees give up Jesus Montero, Ivan Nova, Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances, and two of Hector Noesi, Eduardo Nunez, or David Adams.  Jesus Montero, Ivan Nova, and Manny Banuelos have received a ridiculous amount of hype which is typical or Yankees prospects.  The Yankees are great at making their prospects appear to be the best in baseball.  For all I know Montero will end up being Rob Johnson and Nova and Banuelos will be the next Ian Snell.  The only way the Mariners should do this trade is if they were to get young, proven Major leaguers in return and the Yankees would be stupid to do that.  The guys I have in mind are Robinson Cano and Phil Hughes and I would still want one more player at least to part with Felix.  There is no way the Yankees would give that much up for the King, but that's what it should take.

King Felix is a once in a lifetime talent.  He's the kind of guy the Mariners used to have in Randy Johnson only he's just as dominant at the age of 24.  He won the Cy Young last year and was the second best pitcher in the American League the year before that.  He has been relatively healthy and there's no reason to think he will get seriously hurt in the future.  Every team would love to have a Felix on their team.  He's the kind of pitcher that can win a 7 game series for you by dominating 3 of the games.  You only have to come up with 1 win in the other 4 games when you have Felix.

The Mariners are not that far from being a contending team again.  They had a tough year last year, but almost every single position player underperformed.  If the guys in the field play to their previous levels, which is likely, they will improve a lot over last season.  Add to that the new guys coming in and it should be a good team this year and really good the year after when they address weaknesses that emerge throughout the year.  They will have Ackley, Smoak, Nick Franklin (the following year) and Chone Figgins in the infield.  The starting rotations will be Felix, Bedard, Pineda, Vargas, and Fister.  The outfield is Franklin Gutierrez, Ichiro, and a black hole in left field.  Left field should be one of the easiest positions to address as it is one that is not dependent upon having a plus fielder.  The Mariners would be shooting themselves in the foot by trading Felix away from a team that is almost ready to contend.

Hopefully Jack Z doesn't listen to sportswriters and keeps Felix where he belongs, at the top of the Mariners rotation until the day he retires.