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According to French-language newspaper Le Droit, the Seattle Mariners have reached an agreement with free agent starter Erik Bedard on a 2010 contract, pending a physical examination.
If he successfully passes a physical exam today in Arizona, Erik Bedard will be back with the Seattle Mariners in 2010.
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The lefty pitcher from Navan [Ontario] confirmed he had accepted a one year contract for $ 1.5 million to remain with the club. [translation]
Bedard is on the road back from a torn labrum, which was repaired last August. He has optimistically suggested a possible return as early as May, but a more realistic scenario is that, if Bedard is able to get back into game shape at all, he won't be ready to make a real contribution until the second half of the season, putting him in line to pick up 10-15 starts down the stretch.
While those are potentially critical starts, the limited number, along with the surgery, scared off several suitors and kept Bedard's price down. Still, there is a real shot at some real value here, should Bedard work his way back to the mound. The last time Bedard was healthy, he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball. And despite pitching a lot of his games while injured, Bedard also managed to strike out a batter an inning over parts of the last two years. If Bedard can come back looking like Erik Bedard, or even just looking kind of like Erik Bedard, he should be able to help a Mariner team that currently has Ryan Rowland-Smith slotted in at #3 behind Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee. There's not a team in baseball that would look forward to facing that potential playoff rotation.
Bedard's contract has a $1.5m base with a number of incentives based on innings pitched and time spent on the roster. It is also, of course, not yet official, as the physical has yet to take place.
Follow along at Mariners blog Lookout Landing.
Bedard Deal Is Official
Erik Bedard's contract with the Mariners, which had been pending a Friday physical, is now official, as he's passed his examination. The deal will pay him a $1.5m base in 2010 with $7m in assorted playing time incentives. It also comes with an $8m mutual option for 2011, but given that mutual options have to be exercised by both parties to be picked up, it's unlikely that this will come into play. Generally, if a player is bad, the team won't pick up his option, and if a player is good, the player won't pick up his option.
Bedard isn't expected back until the middle of the summer, and it's an open question whether he'll ever get back to what he was before, let alone whether he'll get back by July. However, there is now the very real possibility that the Mariners will spend half their season with a Felix Hernandez - Cliff Lee - Erik Bedard threesome heading the rotation.
To make room for Bedard on the 40-man roster, Yusmeiro Petit has been designated for assignment. Bedard will go on the 60-day DL upon the start of the season, but the 60-day DL doesn't go into effect until the end of spring training, necessitating this move.
Feb 06 1:53p by Jeff Sullivan - 0 comments