From MLBTradeRumors, quoting Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times:
Baker hears that the Red Sox gave the Mariners the chance to choose five of the following players in exchange for Felix Hernandez:
- Clay Buchholz
- Daniel Bard
- Justin Masterson
- Nick Hagadone
- Michael Bowden
- Felix Doubront
- Josh Reddick
- Yamaico Navarro
The Mariners apparently turned down the deal, at which point the Padres became involved in discussions about a possible three-way trade. The Mariners would have received Adrian Gonzalez, Buchholz and prospects in the deal. They would have sent Felix to the Red Sox and dealt Brandon Morrow, Phillippe Aumont and Carlos Triunfel to the Padres, who would have received prospects from the Red Sox as well. In the end, Baker says the Mariners nixed the deal.
One presumes this was the deal Theo said the Sox came "close" on. The fact that they got down to what prospects were being sent where indicates this must have come very close indeed. Clearly, the Mariners simply didn't have a desire to move King Felix this time around.
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Hmm...this is more than the Red Sox were supposedly offering for Roy Halladay...much more, although apparently Lars wasn't offered here. If not bullshit, I'm calling exaggeration on the first part of this, unless someone else was coming with Felix. And the second part sounds like a plausible enough megadeal of the sort that never happen.
Posted by: Hit Dog | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 12:04 PM
We know Epstein really likes Hernandez, and Hernandez is much younger and arguably just as good as Halladay, plus the Sox figured they could probably extend him easier than Roy, who is at an age -- and had already said as much -- where he's looking for that huge payday before he gets past his prime. So Felix has a great deal more value to a franchise than Halladay does at this point. So it wouldn't really surprise me, except that Bard was on the list. Maybe there were other restrictions: You can have either Buchholz or Bard and four of any of the rest, or if you take Bard you can't have Masterson, or something like that. But I can believe Theo offered something akin to that list.
Man, what a deal that would have been. Painful for the farm system, but that would have been exciting.
Posted by: Paul SF | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 12:14 PM
Right behind Lincecum, King Felix is the snd most valuable young starter in baseball. I can believe the price would be steep. If Theo did, in fact, make that offer, I admire his boldness.
Posted by: Nick-YF | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Yeah, youth is the reason that Felix would have been more expensive than Halladay.
While parting with both Buchholz and Bard was unreasonable for Halladay (IMO), it might have been worth it for Felix.
Posted by: Devine | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 03:24 PM
Lars Anderson, Casey Kelly, Ryan Westmoreland and Junichi Tazawa were all not included as far as we know. No wonder the Mariners turned Theo down. And Theo would have been right to refuse if they did demand more.
Posted by: doug YF | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 03:48 PM
Rob Bradford said on the Fat Guy Show on WEEI that the names in the Seattle Times story are exactly right, accoriding to his understanding. He did not elaborate.
(Why the hell am I listening to the Big Show?)
Posted by: I'mBillMcNeal | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 04:09 PM
The one thing that sucks about this being public is that everyone -- including the Yankees -- knows exactly who the Sox will be pursuing in the offseason and at next year's deadline.
Which is probably exactly why Seattle leaked it. The price for Felix just got even higher.
Posted by: Paul SF | Monday, August 03, 2009 at 05:54 PM
Also: Buchholz is 20 months older than Felix. Holy crap. To trade away an ace where the centerpiece of the deal is a prospect older than him is... not the wisest thing.
Posted by: doug YF | Tuesday, August 04, 2009 at 01:20 AM
"Also: Buchholz is 20 months older than Felix. Holy crap. To trade away an ace where the centerpiece of the deal is a prospect older than him is... not the wisest thing."
Bill Bavasi, where are you when we need you?
Posted by: SoxFan | Tuesday, August 04, 2009 at 08:56 AM
Im not really sure what the definition of "close" is for a trade but it strikes me that this likely wasnt that close to actually being consummated. The M's could simply have been judging his value and then upon finding what they could get figured thats not enough....
Posted by: sam-YF | Tuesday, August 04, 2009 at 09:24 AM
According to the Times, the Mariners decided they could probably get that price next year, and that there wasn't any compelling reason to give up a year of Felix Hernandez pitching for them.
Again, based on the specificity of the names involved in the three-way, it sounds like it got a lot closer than most trade attempts do.
Posted by: Paul SF | Tuesday, August 04, 2009 at 09:52 AM