Keeping The King remains Mariners’ priority

Felix Hernandez has two years at $40.5 million remaining on his contract with the Mariners, who’d like to lock him up for a longer term at some point this offseason.

Hernandez, 26, is often the subject of trade speculation from teams wondering if Seattle would be willing to move him in exchange for much-needed offense, but general manager Jack Zduriencik continues to steadfastly say his ace isn’t going anywhere.

Zduriencik plays things close to the vest, but indicated again Tuesday that keeping Hernandez long-term is a priority.

He said he didn’t know if Hernandez preferred to get a deal done during the offseason or would be OK negotiating during the season.

“I don’t know the answer to that. But we’ve always had a great relationship with the agency that represents him. It’s still that way,” Zduriencik said. “To get into any talks about extensions or anything, I wouldn’t want to publicly do that. But he’s made it clear he’d like to stay here and we’ve made it clear we’d like to keep him. And that’s the best way to answer that.”