8:57pm: Cotillo now tweets that Bedard would be willing to pitch out of the Rays' bullpen if they add him to the 25-man roster. Otherwise, he will opt out of his contract.
4:50pm: Starting pitcher Erik Bedard will opt out of his deal with the Rays, Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish tweets. Bedard lost out on the Rays' fifth starter job, which went to Jake Odorizzi. Bedard has said he is not interested in pitching in relief. "There’s a lot of starters who have been hurt [in spring training] so there’s a lot of chances and I’ll probably go somewhere else," Bedard told Doug Harrison of CBC Sports earlier this year. Bedard is represented by Relativity Baseball.
Bedard pitched 151 innings in Houston last season, posting a 4.59 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9. He has a career 3.94 ERA in ten big-league seasons with the Orioles, Mariners, Red Sox, Pirates and Astros.
Best typo ever.
The prediction:
He’s going to get that rotation job he’s looking for and the team that absolutely had to find anyone to fill it is going to eventually find someone else.
Fans are going to get sick of that smirk on his face and lack of any emotion. In short? It’s a good time to not have had injuries to starting pitching and be short.
Phillies have lost 5 of there starting options in a matter of a month. I think he would fit atleast a depth option.
Bummer for the Rays. I’m sure they were hoping to hang onto him for veteran depth.
by no means a bummer, more of a godsend. he was absolutely terrible in spring training while Odorizzi and Ramos were a hundred times better. he would have just been another Roberto Hernandez for the Rays so i am thrilled he is gone.
Bedard continues to have a better idea of his worth than just about anyone else has. He’s just not that great, and he’s barely a 6-inning pitcher.
League average is 6 innings nowadays. Its just a question of how much he gives up in those 6. Average is quite valuable.
Yes, but in many cases the league average is 6 because of the way managers manage, not necessarily because of the pitcher. Bedard can’t physically go beyond 6.
He’s a 6 inning pitcher because with the multiple shoulder surgeries, he refuses to go past 110 pitches. And he’s not very economical.
Phillies, Braves, or Jays. Book it.
I never thought I’d say this but I actually wouldn’t mind the M’s bringing back Bedard. That rotation is such a mess right now with no Kuma and Walker to start the season.
Hurry Tigers… Sign him and put Smyly back in the pen.
Smyly is NOT a lefty specialist.
He could handle the 8th inning very well. Righties only batted .242 v. Smyly.
Smyly is the better SP.
Tigers need a top flight reliever right now. If they have to give up a #5 starter to get an solid 8th inning guy, they should do it.
yes hurry plz tigger and sign him so AL central teams can feast
Braves need pitching….. plus Tigers could use bullpen help. If he decides to leave he will definitely find a place
It’s precisely that attitude from Bedard that should tell any team why they don’t need or want him on their roster. Since when does a pitcher with a career losing record who hasn’t thrown more than 180 innings in a single season since the end of the last Bush Administration get to call his tune? Bedard has always had potential but has never shown the brains or the ability to stay healthy to cash in on that potential. Be happy you have a job, Erik, and take care of your money.
“Since when does a pitcher with a career losing record […] get to call his tune?”
When the team that signs him gives me a clause that allows him to do so, one supposes.
If he opt out of his contract with the rays, the rangers might be interested
I just looked at BR, and surprisingly, Bedard is equally good at getting lefties and righties out.
We all know of his injury-prone history, so I can’t help but wonder if his arm would hold up better and longer out of the pen than it would as a starter.
I’d like to see injury-prone starters like Bedard and Johan Santana give the pen a shot. Who know? They might be the next Darren Oliver, pitching out of the bullpen for contenders ’til they’re old and gray, and getting paid big bucks to do it.