Jayson Stark has sources saying the reason the Erik Bedard to the Mariners deal for Adam Jones hasn’t gone down just yet is because the big boss — owner Peter Angelos — has yet to approve the deal. Now there’s a rumor floating around that Jones failed his physical with the Orioles and that’s why the trade hasn’t been completed. I’m going to pay that story no mind for the time being. Degenerative hip or not, I just can’t see how trading away Erik Bedard can fit in with the mission of the Orioles.
The Orioles have essentially struck gold by developing a lefty with dominant stuff who’s a legitimate Cy Young candidate. Rather than try and market the entire appeal of the team around this guy, they’re acting like they’re stuck in an inverse universe, eagerly and capriciously trying to get rid of the guy. What the heck for? Do they know something we don’t know? Are they trying to sell high? This is a team that’s flushed money on free agents like Albert Belle and David Segui recently. How can you tell me that signing Bedard to a long-term deal would not be within their best interest?
I’ve heard Arte Moreno mention on the radio in the past when defending Bill Stoneman that the Angels had a deal in place to acquire Miguel Tejada for Ervin Santana (and maybe someone else). When that deal got to Angelos’ desk for approval, it got the veto. (the fact that you’ve never seen Tejada where an Angels jersey probably tipped you off to that tidbit). Now I don’t know what’s going on here, but something tells me that Angelos is probably applying a little bit of common sense and wondering why his people are so eager to get rid of the best thing they have going for them — Erik Bedard. Trading him makes no sense; what they receive in return won’t be as good or valuable as what they have now.
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[...] Larry Brown wrote a fantastic post today on “Peter Angelos Wisely Holding Up Erik Bedard Trade”Here’s ONLY a quick extract… what they receive in return won’t be as good or valuable as what they have now. Share/Email This. Related posts. Miguel Tejada Is Not Cal Ripken Jr. King Felix Hernandez Stole the Show; Baseball Preview: Baltimore Orioles. [...]
First, thanks for posting those articles butLB, gotta disagree with ya ma man
1. those “recent acquisitions” of david segui and albert belle seemed like they were in a different generation. its not like they are still under contract or just got off of there terms (belle signed in 99, segui in 2001 and the later of them have not been on the team since 2004)
2. Erik Bedard is a nice pitcher, but what the orioles have to do is do a full rebuilding process. Bedard has already turned down a generous contract extension of something around the neighboorhood of 5yr/65-70 mil. since he doesn’t want to be part of the future, the orioles need to get pieces to help them be where they once were and do something like what they did with Miguel Tejada. They need to do it right and that is to get pieces like Adam Jones to come in and change this teams mentality.
3. What is in the Orioles best interest is getting those young players to come in, play care free, understand a rebuilding process is occuring and lose like a team-similar to what the 2003 Tigers did, only to win the American League 3 years later.
4. Angelos gave Andy McPhail total control and it is all on him. Angelos has not nixed anything and I believe he is supposedly famous for nixing 2 trades in the last 10 years (bonilla for prospects, roberts/hayden penn to braves for adam laroche)
5. Sell high with Bedard now. Who knows with these pitchers whether it be injuries or their career goes sour. He only has 1 complete game in more than 110 starts. He quits on his team when he is dominant and the Orioles have some nice pieces. Yes Bedard is a great pitcher now, but what is a great pitcher if you have basically nothing but Nick Markakis to play with, so you might as well start over the right way
Jewcy,
Lots of really good points in there. I’ll respond with a few comments — the Tigers rebuilt by spending, not stripping down. They overpaid for Pudge and Magglio to name two. That’s what Baltimore should do with Bedard. I think selling Bedard right now is a bad time — he’s peaking, not at his peak. Ride him for the few great years he can give you. Also, I believe rebuilding is a poor mindset. It’s hard to break away from it once you’ve accepted it. Selling off B-Rob is fine to me, but Bedard is too valuable to let go.
LB,
but with Bedard and Roberts (who has been on the team several years), what they have is not working, so they essentially need to strip down what they are doing, because its not working and start fresh. You have to get certain parts in order to be successful, and Bedard is a major trading chip to get a high quality player like Jones.
If they wait to trade him, he could get injured again and he might not be as valuable as now. Injury factor and pretty cheap the next two years, with next year being an option year.
Yes Ordonez and Pudge were both free agents, but the Tigers did it with their young pitching of Robertson, Bonderman, and Verlander, Granderson, etc. Those guys really came through.
The thing about the O’s is they have some really nice young pitchers which they can probably afford giving up Bedard. Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera have been around the team for a couple years and could step into their own.
I just think you have to make the deal to set up some kind of future. They are not going to get better with him and he has already turned down a contract extension before all of this trade hostage bullshit going on, so I do not see how keeping him, even if the O’s could, would be beneficial.
I’m from a year in the future.
Trust me, this trade works out wonderfully for the Orioles. The Mariners? eh, not so much.