1
The first series that starts Felix/Lee/Bedard is going to be a treat. I am wringing my hands with mindless glee right now just thinking about it >:-)
Erikkk
Shannon Drayer, on the Mar. 31 Hot Stove, relayed the giddiness in M's camp right now around Mr. 10K.
Bedard has been humming laser beams from 120 feet on flat ground and feeling zero punishment from his wing afterward. (Ever thrown a ball so that it makes a loud noise in a mitt 40 yards away?)
He's been taking mini-bullpens and leaving the peanut gallery in giggles. "Spectacular" and "pretty incredible" and adjectives like that dominate.
Drayer asked Bedard, wow, you're a quick healer, aren't you? Yeah, said Erikkk, problem is I'm also a quick breaker...
...............
You almost get the feeling that Bedard could pitch right now -- start his extended spring training -- except that their better judgment tells them that it wouldn't be the logical thing to do.
As SSI preaches, if Bedard was fanning 10-12 men a game right before the DL last year, how bad could his "rotator cuff" have really been. We don't have a lot of doubt that he'll be back early, but then again, how long until the next injury...
.................
The Mariners could have put Bedard on the 60-day and opened up another slot on the 40-man roster. So, consider that they (1) shed a whole player, in theory, as against (2) the value that they think they'll get from Bedard before June 1.
Let me read that last sentence again.
Zduriencik himself has said, again and again, that Z plans on Erik Bedard being "a huge part of our success this year." Exactly no one believes him.
The script was for Bedard to come back in August, and then for his contribution to be very problematic. (Check this acid remark from just last week.) Jack Zduriencik's and Erik Bedard's own opinions on this have counted for very little. Hey, the news is good.
People want to know what happened to the last $10M. It went to Bedard, amigos. The M's are figuring on paying him the full $7.5M after he earns twice that. That's where the post-Lee money went. Get it? Got it! Good. Bedard got the money.
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As you know, I've always been more optimistic than the average Seattleite on Erikkk, but then again so has Jack Zduriencik. One thing we do notice is that, come May-June, Bedard will have had almost an entire year of rest for his arm.
Surgery's great, but simple rest is often half the battle. This will have been the first 10+ consecutive months off that Bedard has had since... when?
A few stats from Bedard's last healthy season, 2007:
- A run value of +2.94 on his curve ball (!), equals a 1+ ERA with it
- Despite throwing it 34% of the time
- Despite throwing only two pitches
- 221 strikeouts in 182 innings
- walk rate of 2+
- 48% groundball rate
- 6.5 innings per start (Lee last year: 6.8)
Bedard won't be popular in Seattle until he throws a few games in a pennant race. After he throws two games in the playoffs, he'll never be unpopular again.
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Comments
2
I drool at the thought of the Triple-Guns as well. But beyond these prospects in 2010, I see the M's opportunity to re-sign Lee and Bedard also look good. The great clubhouse environment and positive relationships with management are refreshing to see. You aren't seeing them cutting the players' 401(k) matching funds, insurance benefits, vacation accrual like in the current corporate world. Somewhere in the next several months I can see the Good Will return in the form of those contract extensions.
3
I'm always skeptical when it comes to shoulder surgeries, but if Bedard really comes back in May and ends up pitching the whole season then I'll never doubt the Mariners' medical reports again.
I don't want to set myself up for dissapointment, but a healthy Bedard changes our outlook drastically. Felix-Lee-Bedard is nasty.
4
Yeah... if the M's have read the Erik situation perfectly, along with the Branyan situation... then this is a sea change in medical-report acuity for the M's, and most, most welcome. And you're right Taro, going forward, we can probably read more in to the M's actions based on this.
On Felix-Lee-Bedard, I'm wondering if the best order wouldn't be Felix-Bedard-Lee. Mainly because, you're likely to get more innings from the guys not named Bedard. This way you keep your bullpen better rested and less likely to have to work much on consecutive days.
5
That's a great way to view it. And to reinforce your point a little bit, the M's would have managed the whole situation from very early on.