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Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Erik Bedard

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Another one of baseball’s top young lefties is about to be traded. Last week it was Johan Santana. This week it appears as if Erik Bedard is going to be traded to the Mariners for Adam Jones, a relief pitcher and three top pitching prospects. Despite rumors of a completed deal over a week ago, and worries that Peter Angelos might kill the deal, reports appear to indicate that the trade could be finalized. Any. Minute. Now. But before the deal is completed, let’s take a look at reactions to the Bedard trade from the blogosphere.

  • Camden Chat says farewell and thanks to Erik Bedard. They are now looking forward to watching the 2008 Baltimore Orioles even if the team is destined to lose 100 games.
  • Oriole Magic thinks this entire saga has been more interesting than the regular season will turn out to be.
  • Bleacher Report says there is no prize for finishing 4th in the AL East (tell that to Rays fans) and Peter Angelos needs to OK the deal.
  • Detect-O-Vision compares the Johan Santana deal to the Erik Bedard deal. While the Mariners appear to be offering more for Bedard, their system is much deeper than the Mets and they can afford the price.
  • Caffeinated Confines takes a look at who will play right field for the Mariners if Adam Jones is traded.
  • Bugs & Cranks thinks that this deal, along with the Miguel Tejada deal are moves that the Orioles should have made years ago.
  • Fake Teams takes a look at the three pitching prospects that are expected to be acquired by the Orioles.

by Cork Gaines

Cubs/Brian Roberts Update

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Buster Olney has the latest on the Cubs’ talks to acquire second baseman Brian Roberts.  According to Olney:

Sources involved in Baltimore’s trade talks with Chicago expressed confidence that at some point, the Orioles and Cubs will finish the proposed Brian Roberts deal.

Olney says Sean Gallagher would be the centerpiece of the deal.  On February 3rd, ESPN’s Jayson Stark said Gallagher or Sean Marshall would be included, but beyond that nothing has been decided.

Erik Bedard Trade Almost Done

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5:31pm: Baker update: Sherrill made an appearance in Baltimore to take his physical this morning.  The O’s may not need to examine the three young pitchers coming over.  Bedard has yet to fly out to Seattle but this thing should be done by week’s end.  Meanwhile Jason Churchill (righthand sidebar of his site) is 100% convinced the trade will happen and expects an announcement soon.

3:53pm: Sean Welsh of the Baltimore Examiner says the deal could be completed soon but not finalized today.

12:47pm: Geoff Baker checks in, mostly to dismiss any rumor of Brian Roberts being added to the deal.  I hadn’t heard that one from any legitimate outlet.

10:51am: The Sun has an update: this deal is nearing completion, pending physicals.  Jones is officially in Baltimore for his physical.  The deal may be announced later today.

MONDAY, 7:48am: This Baltimore Sun article was posted at 2:48am CST today. Jeff Zrebiec said no one’s taken a physical yet, but "officials from both sides remain confident a deal can be reached."

SUNDAY, 10:43pm: John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says Adam Jones went to Baltimore today for that long-awaited physical.  Hickey says this physical is the only remaining impediment to the Mariners swapping Erik Bedard for Jones, George Sherrill, Tillman, Mickolio, and Butler.  Sounds like we might have an announcement on Monday or Tuesday.

SUNDAY, 11:39am: Larry Stone of the Seattle Times gives his take on the Erik Bedard situation.  The money quote:

All current indications are that, after all the histrionics of the past week, the Mariners and Orioles will really, truly, actually, once and for all, no turning back, no mulligans, no backing out, no passing go, get this trade done. But check back tomorrow, because nothing is for certain in this messed-up deal.

Stone also adds that Adam Jones was not in Baltimore for a physical on Friday, contrary to other reports.  He also gives some details about the three tall pitchers rumored to be part of the deal – Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler.

Brad Wilkerson Signs With Mariners

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The Mariners officially signed Brad Wilkerson today to a one-year deal.  Scott Boras says he’s a good fit even if the Ms don’t trade Adam Jones.  Now that I think about it and see the price – $3MM – I might agree with that.  The Seattle Times’ Larry Stone considers this signing a "possible precursor to finalization" of a Jones trade.  So maybe progress has been made on the Erik Bedard front.

Wilkerson, 29, hit .234/.319/.467 for the Rangers in ’07, earning $4.35MM.  Wilkerson had some interesting years from 2002-04, putting up OPSs above .840.  Wrist and shoulder injuries seemingly had a lot to do with his struggles thereafter.

Erik Bedard Rumors

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UPDATES, 1-31-08 at 2:13pm: Interesting note from SI.com’s Jon Heyman – the Indians made a late bid for Bedard.

UPDATE, 1-31-08 at 11:36am: Bedard’s agent takes a swing at MLB.com for suggesting that the deal was held up because of extension talks with the Orioles.  Not true.

UPDATE, 1-31-08 at 11:24am: Buster Olney checks in with some new info.  He explains a tricky situation regarding the rules of making trades and passing physicals.  Olney says the Orioles have asked the Mariners for an agreement where they would have have to make the trade if Adam Jones and George Sherrill passed their physicals.  This written agreement could move things along.

FROM 1-31-08 at 9:12am:

Erik Bedard rumors/drama – here’s the latest.

  • Andy MacPhail says Peter Angelos did not nix any deal.  McPhail says trade talks are ongoing and no deals are expected today.
  • Yesterday it was reported by MLB.com’s Jim Street that the Orioles were making a last-ditch effort to sign Bedard to an extension, perhaps as long as five years.

Mariners Close To Bedard Deal?

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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).

The Adam Jones Degenerative Hip Rumor

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UPDATE, 1-30-08 at 9:09am: John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer calls Charles’ report "completely unsubstantiated."

FROM 1-29-08 at 10:40pm:

This story got lost in the shuffle today.  Let’s take a look at what we know about the Adam Jones degenerative hip rumor.

  • The rumor originated with Stan Charles, publisher of a Baltimore sports weekly called Press Box.  Charles appeared on the Mark Viviano Show on ESPN 1300 Tuesday afternoon. 
  • Unfortunately I did not hear exactly what Charles said – the show may be up for download on Wednesday.  But the gist of Charles’ rumor based on emailers who listened is that the Orioles believe Jones has a degenerative hip condition.  They are trying to use this leverage to get more players for Erik Bedard.  The Orioles saw firsthand how quickly a degenerative hip killed Albert Belle’s career.
  • Roch Kubatko of the Baltimore Sun: All I can say about the topic is that the Orioles became concerned with something related to Jones, and the fact that they wanted to bring him in for a physical before alerting Bedard’s agent that a trade agreement was reached should send off signals. But we’ve heard nothing up to this point about his hip.  Kubatko implied that Charles was in dangerous territory with his claim.

Mariners Have Company In Bedard Pursuit

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Andy MacPhail told the Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec today that teams other than the Mariners have "chimed in" on Erik Bedard.  What is the goal of this public statement?  To push the Mariners to up their offer?

MacPhail says he’s just having conversations with the Mariners currently.  He’s been in touch with Peter Angelos and not much has changed of late.

Hard to say which other clubs chimed in on Bedard, if it’s true.  I have heard that the Cubs haven’t talked to the O’s in over a week.  Teams like the Reds, Indians, Angels, and Rockies could theoretically jump in.

Johan Santana Traded To Mets

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UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 4:22: Ken Rosenthal says the 72-hour window to sign Santana is now open.

UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 3:15pm: Bob Nightengale of USA Today says an agreement to trade Santana to the Mets has been reached.  They’ll send Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins.  The Mets still have to work out a six or seven year extension for Santana, according to Nightengale.  If this baby reaches its true conclusion we’ll sit down and analyze.

UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 2:55pm: More from Olney.  His sources say the Mets have the best offer, the Red Sox also made offers, and the Yanks are out.  Santana apparently asked the Twins to make a decision, wrap this thing up.  Wrap it up!  Olney is not sure whether F-Mart is part of the Mets’ offer.

UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 2:06pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman weighs in.  He sees the Mets as the frontrunner, the Red Sox on the fringes, and the Yankees as nearly out of the running.  The Mets are offering Gomez/Humber/Mulvey/Guerra but not Fernando Martinez.  If they get Santana, the Mets will commit to only five years but with a high average annual value of $22-25MM.

UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 1:11pm: WFAN’s Mike Francesa believes the Twins upped their offer to five years, $100MM for Santana, but he rejected it.

UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 9:42am: ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Twins asked for each team’s "last and best offers" on Monday.  They could decide Santana’s fate as early as today.  Olney adds that the Yankees "appear to be not presently engaged whatsoever in the Santana talks."  Olney used to be a Yankees beat writer, so he’s bound to have a good line on this.

As for the Red Sox – Olney is hearing conflicting things about Jon Lester’s availability.  It’s possible that Lester could only be had in a more limited package – he, Coco Crisp, and not much else.

FROM 1-29-08 at 8:02am:

Over at MetsBlog today, Matthew Cerrone does a nice job summing up the Johan Santana situation. 

The New York Daily News indicates that the Mets are the one team pushing for Santana, but the Twins might use the Erik Bedard haul as a measuring stick.  Joel Sherman sees it as a Mets-Red Sox battle.  He notes that Carlos Gomez will skip the Caribbean Series not because of an impending trade but just to limit his games. 

We could finally get some kind of resolution with Santana this week.  Just to keep things interesting, check out Mark Healey’s note about the Dodgers "creeping into the picture."

Erik Bedard Rumors: Tuesday

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UPDATE, 1-29-08 at 3:45pm: The Baltimore Sun’s Roch Kubatko weighs in on a radio rumor going around.  The radio rumor says that the O’s are holding up the deal over a possible degenerative hip condition with Adam Jones.  Kubatko could only confirm that the Orioles "became concerned with something related to Jones."

FROM 1-29-08 at 7:50am:

Why can’t all megadeals be as simple as Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera acquisition?  The Erik Bedard to Seattle has become a full-blown mess.  As always, MLBTradeRumors.com has the latest.

Ken Rosenthal expounds on three theories as to why Orioles owner Peter Angelos may be holding up the deal.  Maybe he still wants to sign Bedard to an extension.  Maybe he’s mad about Adam Jones leaking the deal to the Venezuelan press.  Or maybe he just wants more/different players than Andy MacPhail negotiated.  Or my own theory – maybe he was just busy Monday with a family matter, as has been suggested, and nothing’s wrong.

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