Bedard’s not going anywhere
JOHN MCGRATH; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
It took the Seattle Mariners months to acquire starting pitcher Erik Bedard in what can only be called the worst trade the franchise ever made.
If we know nothing else about the prolonged meeting late Saturday afternoon among Bedard, manager Don Wakamatsu and general manager Jack Zduriencik, we know it will be months before the Mariners can part ways with the star-crossed left-hander.
Six days remain until the non-waiver trading deadline expires. Zduriencik may yet agree to a blockbuster deal that could both solidify this season’s team and solve some long-range position problems, but Bedard is off the table.
“With Erik, you look at the command and lack of efficiency with his pitches. We just had a discussion with him,” said Wakamatsu, who typically begins his postgame remarks, even after a defeat, by accentuating the positive.
But there were was nothing much positive about the Mariners’ 10-3 drubbing to Cleveland – their second clunker in 19 hours – so Wakamatsu cut to the chase.
“We think there’s some discomfort in there,” continued Wakamatsu, referring to the shoulder-inflammation problems that recently put Bedard on the disabled list for a month. “You sit on the sidelines and watch and you see 20-25 pitches up there in an inning. …
“You watch little things on the mound, but just the results tell you a lot with a guy that has such good stuff.”
The results from Saturday: 81 pitches thrown through three innings. He struck out six but walked four, and by the fourth, with the Indians leading 2-0, Wakamatsu sensed Bedard’s laboring might be steeped in physical issues.
Bedard made no mention of how his shoulder felt during the game – “he’s going out there trying to compete,” said Wakamatsu – but the fact the manager broached the possibility Bedard might be hurt underscores his concern.
And Wakamatsu isn’t alone.
“He didn’t have that electric stuff,” catcher Rob Johnson said. “I think he’s hurting a little bit, but I’m not 100 percent sure. I’m not in his body.
“He’s definitely battling; he wants to go out and pitch. He knows where we’ve been in the standings the last couple of days. But he’s usually sharper and more crisp with his stuff.”
Bedard will sit down with management today and presumably be convinced that as much as the Mariners admire tough-guy battlers on the mound, they need tough-guy battlers to be candid about injuries. Even if it turns out that Bedard wasn’t pitching in pain, his value as a trade chip has diminished from marginal to zilch.
No contending team craves a starting pitcher who can’t work beyond the fifth inning, much less a starter associated with a tender shoulder. Put it this way: Bedard will remain with the Mariners for the remainder of the season, by which time his contract will expire and he’ll likely depart as a free agent.
There was a time he could’ve been used as the centerpiece of a trade – before he got hurt last season, before he got hurt this season – but that window has long been shut. Saturday’s developments merely tightened the screws on the sill.
Still, several intriguing names have been floated in trade speculation connected to Seattle. Among them: Tampa Bay pitcher Scott Kazmir and shortstop prospect Reid Brignac to the Mariners in a three-team deal that would send minor leaguers Brandon Morrow and Jeff Clement to the Indians, with catcher Victor Martinez and starting pitcher Cliff Lee going to the Rays.
Rumors such as these are commonplace on the eve of the trade deadline, and most of the time, “proposed” deals turn out to be laughable concoctions of idle minds. But this makes sense for everybody involved.
Morrow would provide Cleveland with a young power arm desperate to be refined in a different setting, and while Clement has continued his assault on Triple-A pitching this season – few doubt he’ll assert himself as a productive hitter in the big leagues – it’s clear the Mariners have pretty much abandoned hopes that Clement ever will work in Seattle as a full-time catcher.
The Rays, meanwhile, figure to acquire the RBI threat they’ve been looking for in Martinez, and Lee is merely the league’s defending Cy Young Award winner.
As for the Mariners? Kazmir, a former All-Star left-hander with durability issues, essentially would replace Bedard in the rotation through 2011. Kazmir is 4-6 this season, with a frightening 6.69 ERA, but he’s 51-43 over his career, and he’s only 25.
But the cornerstone component of the trade would be Brignac, a 23-year-old shortstop prospect whose path to the majors is impeded by the Rays’ Evan Longoria. If the Mariners land Brignac, the shortstop position is immediately upgraded from Ronnie Cedeño, whose adequate glove can’t mask his status as a virtually automatic out.
What I like best about the notion of this trade is that the Mariners could follow through on it without surrendering all hopes of competing in 2009. To the contrary, they’d be stronger down the stretch with two players who can contribute immediately.
Whatever happens on the trade front, Erik Bedard won’t be a factor.
Any pipe dreams of getting value for the enigmatic pitcher were put to rest Saturday at Safeco Field, where he was relieved before the fourth inning.
john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com
