Deal not certain, unless it is

DMZ · January 28, 2008 at 10:50 am · Filed Under Mariners 

Further speculation circulates (via Jayson Stark at ESPN) that Orioles owner Peter Angelos has not signed off on the Bedard deal yet, while the Orioles still deny that a deal is final or that Adam/George have scheduled physicals.

I’m skeptical. First, the denials from the Orioles have been almost non-nonsensical (“We are not trading for Adam Jones! You’re all crazy!” “He’s right there next to you, with an Orioles jersey draped over one arm.” “No! He’s not!”). And while I’d love to see him axe the deal, I’d be amazed if Angelos was totally in the dark all this while, for all the weeks these talks dragged on and on.

If I thought it would have made any difference, I’d have totally whooped it up as a victory (“we tricked the Orioles into thinking Jones was good! woo-hoo!”) and tried to work the buyer’s remorse.

Second, why would the two M’s we’ve heard from lie about being headed east to have their tender bits poked and prodded? And pulling Jones from his winter ball team was a pretty big deal, as Baker noted. They didn’t do that without a deal all but agreed to, and knowing Angelos’ history, I’d be shocked if Bavasi yanked Jones back to the states without knowing that the deal would go through and had Angelos’ seal of approval (or, at least, knowing that Angelos had approved the general deal — Angelos isn’t going to know who the fourth player is).

Comments

222 Responses to “Deal not certain, unless it is”

  1. bubblegumcrisis on January 29th, 2008 8:21 am

    If this latest development is true it’s time to call off the deal. Because AJ spoke we need to give up our most promising prospect? What? Every time I think we have an inept front office, I see Baltimore, and I suddenly feel much better.

  2. Jay R. on January 29th, 2008 8:22 am

    That is a decent article by Miller. I sent the same quote to a friend via IM yesterday when I read it here…sums things up pretty well.

  3. ooter on January 29th, 2008 8:45 am

    157 – Did you try enlarging your browser window? The button won’t force the dreaded horizontal scroll bar but if you manually enlarge your browser, it should display the entire button.

  4. Lauren, token chick on January 29th, 2008 8:48 am

    ooter: Yeah, I figured that out, but decided not to clog up the works with another post explaining that I was able to see the button.

    THWARTED!

  5. galaxieboi on January 29th, 2008 8:51 am

    Dave or Derek, is there any substance to Felix being overwhelmed by being the ‘number one’ starter or the ‘ace of the staff’? I’m really curious.

  6. mln on January 29th, 2008 8:55 am

    It would almost be a case of divine intervention if this deal is called off because of some whim of Peter Angelos or similar baseball unrelated issue. Better pray to the USSM Pony for the hand of fate to save the M’s.

  7. Jar on January 29th, 2008 9:00 am

    I just read this on orioleshangout.com. Probably just crap, so take it for what it’s worth.

    “Interesting – Stan the Fan is on Viviano’s show right now saying that there is internal concern in the Orioles camp regarding Adam Jones and the fact that they believe he has a degenerative hip condition.

    According to Stan, this is the leverage the Orioles are trying to use in order to pry more away from Seattle in this trade. There is a perception that Jones is in fact damaged goods.”

    I have no idea who “Stan the Fan” is or what Viviano’s show is. Please don’t put to much behind this quote.

  8. S-Mac on January 29th, 2008 9:08 am

    I bet “Stan the Fan” is really just “My friend Doug, who knows a guy”. And “Viviano’s show” is “When I ran into him at Dunkin’ Donuts”.

    Adam Jones does not have a degenerative hip condition. If anything, he has a regenerative hip condition. Robot hips!

  9. Jar on January 29th, 2008 9:13 am

    S-Mac, I am sure you’re right, it was just something I hadn’t heard yet. It sounded pretty fishy to me, but I like to hear all the info and disern from there.

  10. gwangung on January 29th, 2008 9:34 am

    “Interesting – Stan the Fan is on Viviano’s show right now saying that there is internal concern in the Orioles camp regarding Adam Jones and the fact that they believe he has a degenerative hip condition

    Now this is getting REALLY stupid…

  11. et_blankenship on January 29th, 2008 9:42 am

    “Dave or Derek, is there any substance to Felix being overwhelmed by being the ‘number one’ starter or the ‘ace of the staff’? I’m really curious.”

    Sorry, I’m neither Dave nor Derek . . . but any pitcher who dubs himself “King” should relish in the role of staff ace. Besides, it’s just pitching.

  12. et_blankenship on January 29th, 2008 9:46 am

    I hit submit before I finished my thought, but I was saying . . . it’s just pitching. “Staff Ace” is a title that bears no extra responsibility. He will do battle with a fellow #1 on Opening Day. After that, he will be like every other pitcher.

  13. bakomariner on January 29th, 2008 9:51 am

    if they bring in bedard, who is the “number 1”? does felix or bedard start opening day? i would hope felix…

  14. Taylor H on January 29th, 2008 10:02 am

    Probably Felix, with him being the future of the organization. Bedard (Bay-dard) would probably be OK with that, seeing that he’s only an M for maybe 2 years.

  15. Gilgameche on January 29th, 2008 10:04 am

    bedard

  16. msb on January 29th, 2008 10:15 am

    “Interesting – Stan the Fan is on Viviano’s show right now saying that there is internal concern in the Orioles camp regarding Adam Jones and the fact that they believe he has a degenerative hip condition

    Now this is getting REALLY stupid…

    the thread on this at the Orioles Hangout is very entertaining.

  17. JMHawkins on January 29th, 2008 10:20 am

    “Interesting – Stan the Fan is on Viviano’s show right now saying that there is internal concern in the Orioles camp regarding Adam Jones and the fact that they believe he has a degenerative hip condition

    Now this is getting REALLY stupid…

    Let’s vote on the next reason the trade is on hold:

    1 – Freak snowstorm in Seattle gave Bedard bad flashbacks to his Ontario childhood so he offered to sign an extension with Baltimore for less money than he previously asked for.

    2 – Angelos declared a ban on trades within the division, and McPhail needs a couple of days to convince his owner that Seattle is not, in fact, in the AL East.

    3 – The curse laid upon Seattle by the Baseball Gods for allowing Edgar to rot in AAA for so long finally expired at 11:59pm Sunday night and the trade really is going to fall through.

  18. Gregor on January 29th, 2008 10:29 am

    if they bring in bedard, who is the “number 1″? does felix or bedard start opening day?

    Definitely Bedard, since Bavasi was talking a few days ago about trading for an opening day starter.

  19. hcoguy on January 29th, 2008 10:47 am

    The Worldwide Leader has a poll on the MLB page.

    “If the Erik Bedard trades goes through, which team would get the best deal?”

    A. Biased questions aside…

    B. I say Minnesota since they can theoretically ask for at least a similar package for Santana.

    C. With over 11,000 votes in, the M’s are “winning” with 71% of the vote. And it is pretty evenly distributed by state and region. Although, Kansas somehow must be where the Official Erik Bedard fan club is located as they come in at 85.

    What does this all mean? Nothing. People are stupid. This trade is stupid. Go vote. Or don’t.

  20. Catherwood on January 29th, 2008 12:01 pm

    Lost in all this is the fact that Baltimore, no matter WHO they get, is going nowhere.

    They’re in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, for crissakes, both of whom are perfectly prepared to spend like drunken sailors to get what they want – and to prevent competitors from getting what THEY want. I can confidently predict that the Orioles will not see the post-season for at least the next ten years. Barring some dramatic revision in how ballclubs are allowed to spend money, anyway, like hard salary caps and such.

    And unlike most of you guys, I was a kid in the Baltimore area in the late 60’s and early 70’s, so I USED to be a fan.

  21. joser on January 29th, 2008 5:15 pm

    B. I say Minnesota since they can theoretically ask for at least a similar package for Santana.

    You might want to tell Minnesota that. D’oh! Too late!

  22. joser on January 29th, 2008 5:20 pm

    If Baltimore wants AJ, they will take him for the deal offered. If not, I will be a happy M’s fan, because I cannot imagine Bavasi giving more to the O’s because AJ violated some stupid code of silence.

    Unfortunately, I can. I can also imagine him construing the Santana deal as proof he needs to sweeten his offer. Bavasiland is a weird, weird place.

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