What Must the Mariners Do With Felix?

It is Wednesday morning and the Mariners are just a few hours away from playing the Texas Rangers in the final game of the series before moving on to Houston in a four game series.

The last time I wrote after Felix previous start whether he can be fixed or not. The question is still in hand however should he be in the starting rotation after giving up eleven runs in six innings. Actually only seven those runs were earned because of an error by Kyle Seager who is another story to deal with at another time. He did give up a home run after the error by Seager so though it wasn’t earned it still was part of the game. The eleven runs were the most Felix has ever given up in a game.

The Mariners left Felix in the game for six innings though in my mind he should have been taken out after the fourth inning when the Mariners actually still had a chance to win.

Going into the bottom of the fifth inning the Mariners were behind 5-3 so they still had a chance to win the game. I know that Servais and the coaching staff didn’t want to overuse the bullpen but it was obvious that Felix didn’t have it. The Mariners actually began the game with Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager hitting back to back home runs in the second inning and then scored another run in the third inning to make it 3-0 Mariners ahead then the Rangers scored four runs in the bottom of the third and then another run on a homer in the fourth inning. At that point I would have brought in a reliever whether it was Chasen Bradford who did come in the seventh inning or someone else.

I can understand leaving Felix in the game if the Mariners were not playing for a playoff spot. Fortunately the Oakland A’s lost as well.  I guess we will see whether it was the right decision to leave Felix in to rest the bullpen. Scott Servais said the will have to think about whether Felix will make his next scheduled start on Sunday or not. I hope that decision will be made today or Thursday.

If the Mariners do decide to start Felix on Sunday I would have someone ready to go right away in the game. The Mariners to honor Felix for willing to stay with the Mariners when he had a chance to leave as a free agent but they have to think about the cost of the playoffs as well.

If Felix doesn’t start again does he go into the bullpen or on the disabled list to get things straighten out so he does have value to pitch at some point in the rest of the season. It isn’t an easy answer however Felix head isn’t in the right place either. The management of the Mariners needs to do the right thing for the organization as much for Felix. They talk about how important it is to make the playoffs so they have to let the fans know as well. Taking Felix out of the rotation will speak volumes to the fans that they do care or if he is left in again that this are the same old Mariners.  Early in the season they made the right decision on Ichiro now they need to do the same with Felix. Of course the difference is that they still owe Felix a whole lot of money still. I don’t think it means taking Felix out of the rotation means they totally given up on him but he has to change things to get back to where he once was or at least be a contributable member of the pitching staff. Go M’s.