NCAAbbs

O's trade Bedard to Mariners

Damn, it doesn't seem like they got very much for him. Adam Jones is a top prospect (not as high as Bruce though), but sherrill is a 30 yr old lefty specialist. Tillman's ERA was awful in the Cal league, but he's not quite 20 and he struck out 105 in 102 innings, so that's promising.

Have fun watching the O's pitchers give up 10 runs/game. On the bright side, Jones and Markakis should make for a good young outfield.

On the other side of the trade, it looks like the M's are in a great position for this season and for the future. Bedard is the ace they need and king felix gets a lot of pressure taken off him, as he slides into that #2 spot, with washburn and batista making for a decent 3 and 4 respectively. I wonder how the attempt to turn morrow into a starter is working out. As for the future, sexson and beltre's contracts are both set to expire soon, which should free up a lot of money. Watch for the Mariners to battle the Angels for west crown this year and for years to come.

Well, actually the deal isnt official yet, Angelos still hasnt approved it, but anyways I'll give you my thoughts assuming it ends up getting done.

Bedard doesnt want to play here anymore, he declined our extension offer earlier, he will be a free agent the year after next we may as well get value for him while he is here. I think he is an outstanding pitcher and he is still relatively young but he has definitely been injury prone. I really dont think he would be a great long term investment given his injury history.

The O's have some decent young pitching prospects in their system and on the 25 man roster. Jeremy Guthrie (imo) proved last year that he can be a top of the rotation type of guy, Adam Loewen was a former number 4 overall pick and has shown a good deal of promise despite some control problems. Daniel Cabrera is an enigma but he can be dominant when he is on and he is still young. So we have 3 guys in the rotation pretty much set, hopefully a couple guys will step up among Garret Olson, Radhames Liz, and Hayden Penn. Jacob Arrieta was a steal in the 5th round of the draft but he is probably a year or two away from being on the major league roster.

We really have no young bats in our system so getting Adam Jones would be huge, he is definitlely the key to the deal for the O's.

The Orioles are in full rebuilding mode and Brian Roberts will be traded soon, I love him but Im glad we are rebuilding the O's werent going to finish better than 3rd or 4th with their roster, you may as well blow it up and go young, something Angelos has been hesitant to do as long as he has owned the team, hopefully MacPhail will be able to get the job done and build things up the right way.

yeah, i agree with all of that. although i imagine it'll take Arrieta more than a year or two. That would make him an incredibly fast riser.

BTW, i like loewen and guthrie as well.

Everything I have heard about Arietta he seems to be the real deal and he should have been a first round pick if it werent for signability issues.

yeah, i've read a lot of good things about him too.

This deal was finally completed yesterday.

yup. good deal for the M's.

I think they paid a high price for a guy who is on the DL for a couple months every year.

i don't think they gave up a lot. i think they feel like wladimir balentien can replace adam jones eventually. that's really all they gave up. sherrill's a 31 yr old lefty specialist, butler doesn't seem like much, tillman's young and had a lot of K's, but also had a high ERA. i wouldn't count on him. the last guy is a 24 yr old relief pitcher in AAA. The only guy who's anywhere near being good is Jones.

The M's want to compete this year. Sometimes you have to take a risk.

from what i'm reading, the 3 minor league pitchers have talent, but 2 are pretty far away and one is very raw. the chances of any of those 3 becoming really good, is incredibly slim.