UPDATE, 1-30-08 at 5:19pm: MLB.com’s Jim Street says a last-ditch attempt by the Orioles to sign Bedard to a five-year contract is holding up the trade. Street says Bedard’s agent told Andy MacPhail it would take seven years and $100MM, however. Street touches on the Jones degenerative hip thing, indicating that the Orioles heard this but it turned out to be unsubstantiated.
UPDATE, 1-30-08 at 4:38pm: Geoff Baker checks in. He’s not able to corroborate the MLB.com report. He was able to dismiss the Adam Jones hip stuff. Baker’s heard that Angelos was angry about the Jones leak though. Baker does not buy Andy MacPhail’s talk of other clubs being in the mix – the Mariners have a very strong offer.
FROM 1-30-08 at 3:56pm:
According to MLB.com’s Jim Molony:
Talks were thought to be stalled, but multiple MLB sources said Wednesday that Baltimore and Seattle are close to finalizing the deal the two teams have been discussing for weeks. The trade would send Orioles pitcher Erik Bedard to the Mariners for outfielder Adam Jones, pitchers George Sherill and Chris Tillman and as many as two additional prospects.
Molony’s article was published at 1pm CST today. 5 for 1 would be quite a package. Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider still sees a 4 for 1 coming together by week’s end (righthand sidebar).
