Felix Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki Should Stay with the Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners finally (finally) ended their franchise-record 17-game losing streak Wednesday against the New York Yankees. However, with the MLB trade deadline looming, some are calling for Felix Hernandez and/or Ichiro Suzuki to be shipped off, and that just doesn't make sense to me.

Yes, Felix Hernandez is making a ton of money, but he's only a year removed from a Cy Young Award and is still solid with a 9-9 record and an ERA of 3.38. He anchors a rotation with rookie Michael Pineda, considered one of the best young hurlers in baseball, who has so far gone 8-7 with a 3.64 ERA in his debut season.

In fact, their starting rotation features only on pitcher with an ERA over four—that would be Justin Vargas (4.09). The Mariners as a whole rank fourth in the American League with a staff ERA of 3.55. This comes after they posted an uncharacteristic 5.93 ERA during their epic skid.

The problem with the Mariners is their hitting, or lack thereof. They rank dead last in the AL in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging. Only the Oakland A's have hit fewer home runs.

This was amplified on their losing streak as they only pushed across 44 runs and hit .218.

So, what do the Mariners do now?

The fact that Seattle is currently dead last in the AL West is almost deceptive. True, the Mariners just went on a historically putrid streak, but they haven't been that way all season. The day before the streak started, on July 5, the Mariners were 43-43 and just 2.5 games out of first place.

They have the foundation to be a contending club.

They already have a solid rotation. They have an aging legend in the form of Ichiro, who still sells merchandise, brings fans to the park and acts as the face of the franchise, even though his average is (much) lower than usual. They also have two young studs about whom fans can get excited in Dustin Ackley and Pineda. Ackley, in fact, leads the team in hitting with a .301 average since he was called up June 17.

Mike Carp has also been solid in left field, hitting .294 in 23 games so far.

Brendan Ryan has been solid enough at shortstop, but Nick Franklin is well on his way and may be a September call-up this year. Franklin has seen time on the disabled list, but has hit .293 with an on-base percentage of .368 in the minors this year.

The steps Seattle needs to make seem obvious.

Justin Smoak must start putting the ball in play with more pop. He entered Thursday hitting a scant .223 with 12 bombs. First base is a position that requires offensive productions, so the Mariners management should encourage Smoak to change up his offseason training program to get more results at the dish.

Secondly, the Mariners must cut ties with Jack Cust when his contract expires at the end of the year. He has scratched out a .213 average and three homers while only serving as the designated hitter. He's only played in 64 games, but his 87 strikeouts should tell why that's the case.

It seems the ball is in the front office's court in terms of acquiring a legitimate bat or two this winter, but they must be extra diligent to make sure they don't end up with another Milton Bradley.

The foundation is there for the Mariners, and it will take a few more pieces to even approach what they did in 2000 and 2001. To sell off their established base now, however, would be nothing short of foolish.