The Phillies-Erik Bedard situation is an intriguing one. The details:
- As you know, the Phillies have had longstanding interest in the lefty. Bedard recently appeared on a Philadelphia radio show, an odd choice given that he avoids the Seattle media.
- Possible conflict of interest: what if Pat Gillick trades a bevy of prospects to the Mariners for Bedard, and then gets a high-ranking position with the Ms in ’09?
- Will Carroll notes that Rich Harden, A.J. Burnett, Randy Wolf, and Bedard all carry injury risk. However, the Phillies do not seem concerned about Bedard’s health. He says Gillick wants Bedard at a discount, however. Bedard has been shut down until after the All-Star break to recover from nagging injuries.
- I imagine Bedard would command a package similar to the one the A’s got for Harden. Both pitchers have ace potential and injury risk and are controlled through ’09. The situations do differ, though – Bedard is less risky than Harden, and the Cubs deal was complicated by adding a good pitcher in Chad Gaudin. Anyway, I think the Phillies could pull off a Bedard deal if centered around a healthy Carlos Carrasco.
