December 03, 2007
Bedard Out of Baltimore
Via MetsBlogs.com, Erik Bedard won't sign a long term agreement with the Orioles:
For those teams that lose out on Santana, there still is no shortage of attractive pitchers available on the trade market.
Perhaps the best of those is left-hander Erik Bedard of the Baltimore Orioles, who is definitely available now that, according to league sources, he has informed the team he has no interest in signing an extension to stay in Baltimore beyond 2009, when he hits free agency.
And Bedard, who is perhaps one more solid year away from establishing himself as a true No. 1 starter, could be a poor man's Santana, costing a team half the talent and less than half the money (if they are interested in extending him) in a trade.
Add to that rumors that the Athletics might be willing to move Dan Haren, and there's a decent supply of good pitchers on the trade block. That, of course, helps the teams interested in acquiring Santana, since they have other sources available. Of course, the Orioles may not be willing to trade Bedard to an AL East team, but you never know.
Posted by David Pinto at
09:05 AM
|
Pitchers
|
TrackBack (0)
As an O's fan, this stings. Of course, it's hard to blame Bedard, just like it was hard to blame Mussina when he decided he no longer wanted to be part of the disfunction. O by the way, Bedard is a "true no. 1 starter" right now.
I get a bad vibe from Bedard, I can't remember why, but this kind of reminds me of it. This guy has had ONE season of being a "good" pitcher, and a bunch of average-to-above-average seasons in the past. I think it's safe to expect some regression next year. I'm not one who usually cites "chemistry" and all that, but I can't shake the feeling that there's some baggage here.
Looking at what Beane wants for Haren, I can't imagine that the demands from the Orioles are going to be much less for Bedard. Although he might not be the talent Santana is, he's cost-controlled until '09, which has to up his value to a lot of teams who lack incredibly deep pockets.
I bet you'll still see some premium offers down the road for Bedard.
Looking at what Beane wants for Haren, I can't imagine that the demands from the Orioles are going to be much less for Bedard. Although he might not be the talent Santana is, he's cost-controlled until '09, which has to up his value to a lot of teams who lack incredibly deep pockets.
I bet you'll still see some premium offers down the road for Bedard.
Mike, I get a bad vibe too but it's not because of Bedard himself, it's because of his situation. In fact it's nice to see an athlete who apparently does want to win and not just talk about it. Maybe this is his way of forcing them to trade him now so he can get out of that mess. I can't honestly hold that against him. The knock on him has been durability, or more specifically his toughness and/or ability to pitch through injuries. That was hung on him and probably isn't fair, but maybe that's giving people the bad vibe. Either way I can't imagine anybody not wanting him to pitch for their favorite team, he really is a pretty good pitcher.
Bedard has baggage? He won 6-6-15-13 with lousy Oriole teams the past 4 years & would have won 5/6 more last season without a major injury. His ERA has come down every year. That is baggage!
