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Preview: Ichiro or Felix could go? Say it isn't so!

Felix Hernandez is under contract with the Mariners until 2014. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel thinks the Mariners would get some good players if they traded the Cy Young Award winner. The trade deadline is Sunday, July 31.
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Felix Hernandez is under contract with the Mariners until 2014. KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel thinks the Mariners would get some good players if they traded the Cy Young Award winner. The trade deadline is Sunday, July 31.

With Major League Baseball's trade deadline looming at the end of the month, and given the Mariners recent plummet from contention, KPLU sports commentator says the M's need to make some big moves.

That means getting rid of some veterans like Ichiro Suzuki and Felix Hernandez ... and their big salaries.

Adding urgency to this move, the Mariners got swept today by the Blue Jays in Toronto, losing 7-to-5. They're losing streak now stands at 12.

Art says if Suzuki asks to be traded, the Mariners should honor that request. And with Hernandez pitching close to the top of his game, Art thinks the M's could get some good players for him.

Find out more about the drastic moves Art says the Mariners need to make in his commentary tomorrow morning at 5:35 and 7:35 on 88.5 KPLU. And check back here tomorrow for a blog of our conversation.

 

Kirsten Kendrick hosts Morning Edition on KNKX and the sports interview series "Going Deep," talking with folks tied to sports in our region about what drives them — as professionals and people.
Art Thiel is a co-founder and writer for the rising sports website Sportspress Northwest. In 2003 Thiel wrote the definitive book about the Seattle Mariners, “Out of Left Field,” which became a regional bestseller. In 2009, along with Steve Rudman and KJR 950 afternoon host Mike Gastineau, Thiel authored “The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists,” a cross between historylink.org and Mad Magazine that has become mandatory reading for any sports fan who has an indoor bathroom.