Erik Bedard's Rehab Start

[JosephC]

This went under the radar alot :confused:.
Erik Bedard did a rehab start at Class-A in Surprise, Ariz.

Struck out 3, wild pitch and never walked anyone. Four hits, one run in 2 and 2/3 innings.
Good to see he is starting to recover, but truth be told, if he's any good this year, he won't resign with the Mariners. I guess it's more Spaghetti on the wall than anything.

[georgmi]

I believe we'd get a compensation draft pick if we lost Bedard to free agency in the offseason. My understanding is that A and B status for players is based on their healthy stats, and they aren't penalized for extended DL stays.

I also think Bedard's likely to be looking for a one-year deal to reestablish his value--he's clearly not going to get a big multi-year paycheck after his last three seasons--and the M's are as likely a team as anyone else to be able to get that done.

'Course, I'm still holding out hope that we'll manage somehow to keep Cliff Lee. Maybe we'll change our uniforms in the offseason to pinstripes? "See, Cliff? We're the Yankees! Sign here, please!"

[JosephC]

First off georgmi, thanks a bunch for signing up. I really do appreciate it. I'm trying hard to get this site off the ground. Interesting, but do you know if they factor in playing time into the A and B status? If this is true, I dont see why other teams wouldn't have taken the risk to sign him for a little more since it would involve getting another high up draft pick.

Cliff Lee is no doubt one of, if not, the best pitcher in the game right now. It's a shame to me that we cannot hold onto him. He simply goes out and does his job every day. Felix is good and younger, but he has a cocky attitude that comes with him. Less than a month ago he was seen on FSN giving Wakamatsu the good old F phrase on a trip out to the mound. I've heard it said more than once that you can't have a nice team and play good baseball, but Cliff Lee seems to present both.

[georgmi]

No problem, more talking about the M's is a good thing, even this year.

According to this article (http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/07/elias-sports-bu.html), it looks like stats are "restored" for up to 60 days of DL time. Not sure exactly what "restored" means, and I'm not an ESPN Insider subscriber, so I can't find out from the Keith Law story linked from the above.

[Igoe4Mariners]

I hope he comes back and does good. I'm pretty sure the two sides have a mutual agreement at the end of this season which will be extremely hard to agree upon unless things go perfectly for both sides.

It's a shame we have to get rid of Cliff. I wish we had the guy for one more year because a combo of a healthy Bedard, Cliff, and Felix would be three wins every time out.

[georgmi]

That clip made me a complete and unabashed Milton Bradley fan the day they ran it in the postgame show. I backed it up and made my wife watch it. That grin right there says, "I've been told I need to be nice to the media. Here I am being nice, how do you like it?"

I'm not going to say he's entirely blameless in his issues with baseball, fans, and the media, 'coz I don't--and can't--know, but it's pretty clear that the fault is much less unbalanced in his direction than we've been led to believe.

[JosephC]

Milton is fun to have on a team just because you never know what he's gonna do. One day he's praising Seattle, the next day he's requesting permission to get some help. I think he's a good guy, just needs to watch his emotions on the field.