Orioles Will Listen On Bedard

New Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail confirms what we’ve been reading for the past few months: the club will at least listen to offers for ace Erik Bedard.  He adds that the O’s have had preliminary, general extension talks with Bedard.    I imagine that if Bedard is looking for the $18-20MM per year he could get on the open market, the O’s will choose to trade him.  Two years of Bedard is at least as good as one of Johan Santana, and Bedard doesn’t have any no-trade stipulations.  He made just $3.4MM this year.

What are your thoughts on a reasonable package the O’s might get for Bedard?  The typical Matt Kemp/Clayton Kershaw speculation seems to fit here.   

MacPhail also admits that he’d prefer to have flexibility rather than all the long-term contracts the team has committed to.  He expects an active trade market, and you can bet the Orioles will be in the middle.  Miguel Tejada is likely to be dealt, especially if his name is absent from the Mitchell Report.