Bedard injury muddles Mariner trade options
The unexpected news Wednesday that Erik Bedard was going on the disabled news (unexpected because there was no hint of a knee injury; Bedard had been on the DL eight previous times in his career, four of those with the Mariners, so that in itself is not a bombshell) really throws a curve (see what I did there?) into the M's trade options involving Bedard.
You can debate all day about the wisdom of dealing prospects to get a bat (have I got a blog for you!), but Bedard was the Mariners No. 1 trade chip, if they decided they wanted to trade him. Already, a spirited debate was brewing about the wisdom of doing so. You could make strong arguments either way: They'd be crazy to trade a guy who was pitching so well when the team was so close to first place; or, they'd be crazy NOT to trade a guy who could be a free agent after the year and could break down at any time (ahem).
What was accepted, until Wednesday, is that Bedard was going to be a hugely coveted commodity, perhaps the best pitcher potentially on the market. Now, there was some disagreement among the executives I've talked to about how much Bedard -- essentially, a rent-a-player -- would fetch on the market. Some felt it would be a prime prospect, others just a B or B-plus prospect. But there was always the possibility that a team like the Yankees, desperate to beef up its rotation for the stretch drive, would be willing to overpay. Or even the suggestion that the Mariners could get creative and swing a three-way trade -- Bedard to Team A, Team A's prospects to Team B, Team B's bat to Mariners -- to beef up their offense.
Or, they could have taken Door No. 3 and kept Bedard, perhaps locking him up for 2012 and beyond.
That's still on the board, of course, and so is the possibilty of trading Bedard. But this injury is most assuredly a significant blow to his trade value, just cementing the fear that Bedard is an injury risk. Since his 0-4 start, Bedard has pitched brilliantly this year, and he may again. His knee apparently began bothering him late in his start against the Braves on Monday. It was another strong effort in a 3-1 loss. Bedard worked seven innings and gave up just four hits (two of those home runs). In his last 11 starts, Bedard has gone 4-2 with a 1.77 earned-run average, and the M's are 8-3 in those starts. As I detailed earlier , he's pitched as well as just about anyone in the American League.
Jeff Bedard Left - News
Bedard's last three seasons have ended with shoulder surgery. But he also has a history with his left knee, suffering a strained MCL in 2005 that sidelined hom from May 22 through July 18. This MLB.com article from 2005, dug up by Jeff Sullivan at
Trade Bedard, perhaps? There was an argument for that. Oh wait, he was already hurt by that point. Not an option to deal. Maybe Mike Carp could have been flipped. Possibly. He's not exactly the glue holding this year's team together, though.
Of those 19 pitchers, only Erik Bedard (4-6, 3.00 ERA) of the Mariners and Huroki Kuroda (5-9, 3.10) of the Dodgers have a lower ERA than Wilson. After Wilson comes Paul Maholm of the Pirates, who is 4-8 with a 3.21 ERA and then Sabathia (10-4, 3.25),
Even with today's injury to Erik Bedard, the Mariners have the pitching to stay in the race until the end if they can kick-start their offense. But I have become convinced that they aren't likely to carry this through with the players they have on
The first image was Erik Bedard's face after surrendering Freddie Freeman's go-ahead homer in the seventh. At that point, it was a 1-1 game. Bedard had fought to keep the Mariners in it, and he had one on and one out when the left-handed rookie stepped
Michael Pineda And The Left-Handed Batter Thing - Lookout Landing
Before Michael Pineda was even named to the team, we talked a lot about what to expect from him as a rookie starter in the Major Leagues. And it's not like our minds were changed much when he wound up breaking camp. The majority opinion, as far as I could tell, was that Pineda would likely be able to control right-handed hitters with his fastball and slider, but that he would probably run into problems against lefties because he hadn't yet developed much of a changeup. Fastballs and sliders tend to show big platoon splits, and usually don't make for great weapons against opposite-handed batters.
That was the thinking coming into the season, and when Pineda owned righties and struggled with lefties in his debut, we thought, yeah, pretty much. There was nothing there we didn't expect, and all we really wanted to see from Pineda over the year were signs of progress.
Well Pineda's thrown 102(!) innings now, over 16 starts. He's faced 198 right-handed batters, and 210 left-handed batters. I figured now might be a good time to re-visit his platoon performance. Has he truly met what most of us expected?
On the surface, no, he hasn't. Righties have a .558 OPS against Pineda so far, with five home runs. Lefties have a .596 OPS against Pineda so far, with three home runs. That certainly doesn't seem to show much of a split.
But the split is revealed when you dig a little deeper. For example:
Righties: 56 strikeouts, 15 uBB/HBP Lefties: 4.04 xFIP
When you put it all together, you can see that Pineda's performance looks a good deal worse against lefties. He's generated fewer swings and misses with his fastball, he's generated fewer swings and misses with his slider, and he hasn't compensated by getting them to put the ball on the ground more often. This is pretty much along the lines of what we expected to see.
With that said, one should be careful not to exaggerate. While Pineda has posted worse peripherals against lefties, he hasn't been bad against lefties, in large part because of this:
Righties: 68% strikes Lefties: 68% strikes
Michael Pineda is not shy about throwing strikes to anybody. His changeup has sucked when he's thrown it, but both his fastball and slider have gone for strikes against righties and lefties alike. Throw in the fact that lefties have still swung and missed with above-average frequency and you can see how Pineda has managed to hold his own.
Jeff Bedard Left - Bookshelf
Car and driver
J. Mark Lennon Warner, New Hampshire Although Bedard's math is undoubtedly ... Jeff Higginson Hudson, New Hampshire BEST LETTER Burr of the joke I offer my ...The Bill James Handbook 2007
Jeff L .667 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 .667 1.667 Throws Right R .500 4 2 0 0 2 3 0 0 ... 46 76 .330 .469 Throws Right R .238 390 93 23 2 16 49 28 82 .304 .431 Bedard. ...Baseball Digest
Veterans Jeff Conine (.304, 3, 33) and Kevin Millar (.272, 9, 50) were added. ... Patterson, who never met expectac- tions with the Cubs, could play left ...U.S. news & world report
Well, I have a right ear and a left ear. I listen with both. .... Cindy Lertner News Editors: Jeff Greer, Bruce Guthrie, Steve St. Angelo Prelect Manager: ...Baseball America Prospect Handbook
Jeff Fiorentino, of No. 23 10. Kieron Pope, of No. 30 11. Ryan Adams, 2b Dropped out Luis Lebron, ... 1 Starter Erik Bedard No. 2 Starter Adam Loewen No. ...Day-to-day Information Directory
PFC 12: Jeff Bedard, Diego Saraiva cash in on "High Stakes ...
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Escovedo to Face Bedard for Tachi Fights Title - The Fight ...
Cole Escovedo gave a little chuckle and a cringe when asked about his bout with Jeff Bedard being a showdown of two long-time veterans.
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Jeff Bedard is rad and Capital BMX wants you to help him out. Before Jeff left to go out ... So whatever money this video raises, I will deduct from Jeff's tab. ...
Escovedo and Bedard battle for Tachi Palace Fights strap
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Cole Escovedo gave a little chuckle and a cringe when asked about his bout with Jeff Bedard being a showdown of two long-time veterans.