With Bedard, M’s can’t fish or cut trade bait

Erik Bedard checked in with the Mariners on Friday and his ailing left shoulder wasn’t any better than it was when he left the team on the All-Star break.

Bedard, on the disabled list since July 5 because of “tightness” in his shoulder, won’t throw until Monday, and then it’ll be a light session. Bedard won’t throw off a bullpen mound until late next week at the earliest.

It means that any remaining chance that Bedard will pitch, or be be traded, before the July 31 deadline is pretty much gone. At best, Bedard would return during the Mariners’ road trip late this month to Toronto and Texas.

“We don’t have a specific timetable,” manager Jim Riggleman said. “We’re not looking at trying to pitch him on the 31st. It will be based on how he feels. The 31st is kind of irrelevant when a guy has a tender arm.”