The Seattle Mariners-Baltimore Orioles trade efforts made it through another day Tuesday, meaning the Mariners’ hopes of acquiring pitcher Erik Bedard are alive if not completely well.
The trade fell into uncertainty this week after outfielder Adam Jones, who is part of a five-player package the Mariners would send to the Orioles, told a reporter in Venezuela last weekend that the deal had been completed and he was headed to Baltimore for a physical exam.
With details of the trade made public before either team was ready to announce it, there were reports Orioles owner Peter Angelos may prefer to re-sign Bedard to a longterm contract, but also that he was so upset at word of the trade being leaked early that he was ready to call it off in its current form.
On Tuesday, the Mariners remained hopeful that the deal would go through, although there was no sense that it would happen before Friday at the earliest.
The package the Mariners offered to the Orioles is believed to include Jones, relief pitcher George Sherrill and minor league pitchers Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler.
If the Orioles were hoping to force the Mariners to up their ante and include more prominent prospects, that thought may have taken a hit Tuesday when the New York Mets reached a tentative agreement with the Twins on a trade for star pitcher Johan Santana.
In exchange for Santana, considered baseball’s biggest prize this offseason, the Twins will get four prospects, none with extensive major league experience.
By contrast, the Mariners are offering Jones, one of baseball’s top prospects and their projected starter in right field this year; Sherrill, who became one of baseball’s best left-handed relief specialists; plus three minor leaguers in Tillman, Mickolio and Butler who are projected as potential major leaguers.
While all of baseball has waited for the Santana trade, and his resigning, to take place in order to establish the market for premium pitchers, it’s a different situation than what the Mariners face in pursuit of Bedard.
Santana would approve a trade to just a few teams, and the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox were known to have made offers to get him. In lieu of major league players or upper echelon minor league prospects, the Mets’ price will include a sizable outlay in salary to Santana, who would become a free agent after this season. The Mets have 72 hours to reach a contract agreement with Santana and may pay him $20 million per year over five years.
Bedard, who made $3.4 million in 2007, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2009 season.
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