Felix Hernandez has agreed to a record contract extension with the Seattle Mariners and with many details still to be hammered out, the ace pitcher has decided to skip playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, according to his representative, Octagon agency.
According to ESPN.com, Hernandez had been named the top starter for the Venezuelan team for the third World Baseball Classic, but he will opt to skip the games and focus on the negotiations for his five-year contract extension worth $135.5 million, according to sources.
The agreement is not yet official, but reports say that the two sides have agreed to a contract extension in principle.
"We still have not reached an agreement, but we are moving forward," Wilfredo Polidor told ESPNdeportes.com on Friday. "At this moment, we have covered 70 percent of the road."
Polidor did not confirm the total amount of new money included in the contract extension, or the number of years, meaning that there is a chance both of those could change.
News reports came out on Thursday that Hernandez agreed to a five-year, $135.5 million contract extension, according to sources that spoke to ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney. Hernandez was already under contract for two more years at $39.5 million, making his new agreement last until 2019.
On average, Hernandez will be the highest paid pitcher in baseball, making an annual salary of $27.1 million over the extension. The deal should be finalized before spring training, according to USA Today.
Hernandez previously signed a $78 million, five-year contract in January 2010, and has added $2.5 million in escalators and $300,000 in bonuses after winning the Cy Young and other milestones. Hernandez has been mentioned in trade talks frequently over the past few years, but the Mariners have been adamant about not trading him. The pitcher is known to love the city and said he would like to stay there long-term.
Hernandez went 13-9 with a 3.06 ERA and pitched the first perfect game in team history on Aug. 15, winning 1-0 against the Tampa Bay Rays. He also had 223 strikeouts last season, making it his fourth consecutive year with at least 200 strikeouts. Hernandez won the Cy Young in 2010 and has been a workhorse for Seattle, pitching over 230 innings over the past four seasons.
His career record is 98-76 with a 3.22 ERA in eight years, all with the Mariners, and it likely would be even better if the team had a more productive offense. According to ESPN.com, "For his career, Hernandez has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 141 of 238 starts, but the team is only 99-42 in those games due to the offensive problems."
Seattle has worked on building up its farm system and the team has a number of young pitchers that will follow Hernandez, including 24-year-old Blake Beavan, 22-year-old Erasmo Ramirez, second-year starter Hisashi Iwakuma, Taijuan Walker, Danny Hultzen, Brandon Maurer and James Paxton.