23-year old righty starting pitcher Felix Hernandez finished second in the Cy Young Award voting in the American League behind only Zack Greinke of the Royals. Hernandez pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the Mariners last season and he was 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He only allowed 200 hits in 238 2/3 innings last season for the Mariners and he whiffed 217 batters showing how dominant his stuff was. This is only the beginning for King Felix who is just going to get better and that should be a scary thought for the rest of the American League. Hernandez has now pitched in 138 games (all starts) in his major league career and he is 58-41 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. The best is yet to come for King Felix and the Mariners are very excited about it.

UPDATE: King Felix finished tied with Ian Kinsler for 26th in the voting for the MVP Award in the American League. The amazing thing about the MVP voting is that Hernandez finished behing Mariano Rivera, Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia who he all finished higher than in the Cy Young Voting for the American League…what a joke.

The Mariners have re-signed 40-year old lefty swinging DH Ken Griffey Jr. to a 1-year deal. Griffey played in 117 games for the Mariners last season and he was 83 for 387 (.214 avg, .735 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 19 homers and 57 RBIs. He has now played 12 seasons with the Mariners appearing in 1,652 games in which he is 1,825 for 6,219 (.293 avg, .935 OPS) with 1,107 runs scored, 417 homers, 1,209 RBIs and 167 stolen bases. It’s nice to see Ken Griffey Jr. likely finishing his career where it started in Seattle as he will continue to add to his sure fire Hall of Fame numbers in 2010. He has played 21 years overall in his major league career appearing in 2,638 games in which he is 2,763 for 9,703 (.285 avg, .912 OPS) with 1,656 runs scored, 630 homers, 1,829 RBIs and 184 stolen bases. Griffey is #5 all time in homers, #16 in RBIs, #31 in runs scored and #46 hits in major league history and he will be moving up on a few of those lists this season. This was a good move for both the Mariners and Griffey.

The Mariners have claimed 24-year old righty starting pitcher Yusmeiro Petit off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Petit pitched in 23 games (17 starts) for the D-Backs last season and he was 3-10 with a 5.82 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He has now pitched in 71 games (36 starts) in his major league career and he is 10-20 with a 5.57 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Petit is a severe flyball pitcher so he made have a chance to improve based on the fact that he will likely be pitching half of his games at Safeco Field if he makes the starting rotation for the 2010 season. This was a good risk for the Mariners as Petit is still young enough to turn his career around.

UPDATE: The Mariners have designated Petit for assignment to make room on the roster for recently signed Erik Bedard.