Tag Archives: Jack Zduriencik

Morales Returning to the Seattle Mariners

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It didn’t take long for Kendrys Morales to make a Mariner change…

The 31-year-old Cuban professional baseball player, who joined the Minnesota Twins in June, is joining the Seattle Mariners.

Kendrys Morales

Morales was acquired from the Twins in a trade for relief pitcher Stephen Pryor.

The deal marks a return to Seattle for Morales, who led the team in batting average (.277), hits (167), doubles (34) and RBIs (80) last season and set a club record for a switch-hitter with 23 home runs.

“He’s a professional hitter,” said Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon. “He gives us the opportunity to stretch out our lineup, so to speak. He’s a nice fit, switch-hitter, hitting behind Robbie (Cano).

“He gives us options, what we want to do with (Kyle) Seager, where we want to hit him. I like it.”

Morales became a free agent after rejecting a $14.1 million qualifying offer from Seattle last November. With his market hindered by the burden of draft-pick compensation, he failed to generate interest until after the first-year player draft passed in early June. On June 8, Morales signed with Minnesota for about $7.4 million — or the prorated portion of $12 million.

Seattle is competing for a playoff spot despite ranking last in the American League with a .673 OPS and 13th in runs scored with 396. Morales will upgrade Seattle’s designated hitter contingent, which has a .569 OPS with eight home runs in 352 at-bats.

Morales was hitting .234 with one home run in 39 games with Minnesota.

“We know what Kendrys is, we know his career as a hitter, we know what he did here and now that he’s in a pennant race … I think we all feel that Kendrys is going to hit his stride and be the Kendrys Morales we all know,” said Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik.

Morales is scheduled to join the Mariners on Friday, at which point the team will make a corresponding move with its 25-man roster.

Hernández Agrees to Lucrative Seven-Year Extenstion with the Mariners

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Félix Hernández is officially the highest-paid pitcher in Major League history.

The 26-year-old Venezuelan right-handed starting pitcher for the Seattle Mariners has signed a seven-year contract extension with the team.

Felix Hernandez

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik announced the deal with Hernández at the news conference at Safeco Field. A source confirmed to MLB.com that the basic agreement is for seven years and $175 million, with some new language written in that would protect the Mariners if Hernandez misses a season with elbow problems.

Hernández has two years and $40.5 million remaining on his existing contract, but the final two years will reportedly be replaced by the new deal, which will now extend through 2019.

“I think it’s a great thing for the Seattle Mariners and it’s a great thing for Felix Hernandez. We’re looking forward to this guy being here for a long time, obviously,” said Zduriencik.

CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees currently has the largest overall contract for a pitcher, with a seven-year, $161 million deal he signed before the 2010 season. Zack Greinke signed the highest average-annual-value deal at $24.5 million with his six-year, $147 million contract in December with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hernandez has been with the Mariners his entire Major League career and won the American League Cy Young Award in 2010. He pitched a perfect game last season while going 13-9 with a 3.06 ERA in 33 starts.

The three-time All-Star has pitched 200 or more innings in each of the past five seasons and has a career record of 98-76 with a 3.22 ERA.