Wilkerson Signs 1 Year Deal

Brad Wilkerson has signed with the Mariners which seems to indicate a prelude to a trade. The deal is for 3 million with the opportunity to earn 2 million more in incentives.

Erik Bedard is a Mariner

Update: Bedard isnt a Mariner yet but sources say he will be by the end of the week.

Geoff Baker is saying the deal is done and Jones is being sent to Baltimore for a physical. No word yet on the other players involved.

Bedard Update

Over at Geoff Baker's Blog there is an update on the Bedard trade talk. Baker said he talked to Bavasi an he said this:

"We're in a position now where we have to do our best to make those moves for a top-of-the-rotation guy so we can slot the rest of the rotation where it should be,'' he said. "We feel we have to make a move -- one more move."
Bavasi says he's already put his best offer on the table and that it's now a waiting game. He says there's been a genuine reluctance by some clubs to part with young prospects, but "we're not one of those clubs. We're prepared to move...but there is a limit.''
What would that be?
"I don't think you can give a club its terms and its price,'' he said. "We can move a premier prospect and numbers (of players), but we're not going to move a number of premier prospects."
So, what's going to happen now?
"As I'm sitting here today, I think we will (get a deal done),'' he said. "I think there's a good chance of that."

So it now seems a deal is close and Bavasi has his best offer on the table including Adam Jones and a deal should be completed soon.

Tony Clark Possibility For M's

UPDATE: According to Buster Olney Tony Clark has narrowed his choices down to the Mariners and Giants.

Ken Rosenthal is saying the Mariners are one of 3 teams vying for Tony Clark's services, The other two teams are the Giants and Red Sox.

I think this would be a nice pickup for the M's as Clark has a lot of power and is a switch hitter. I think if they sign Clark he and Vidro will split time at DH and it will give Clement more time in the minors. Clark can also step in at 1B if Sexson struggles again.

M's don't want to include Jones

Jason Churchill and Keith Law are saying that the hold up in the trade is that the M's do not want to include Jones and are trying to find a way to do the trade without him in it.

Sherrill and Rhodes Sign

George Sherrill and the Mariners have avoided arbitration and signed a 1 year deal and this has nothing to do with whether he is traded or not.

Also Arthur Rhodes was brought back and signed a minor league deal. I dont think Rhodes has much of a chance of making the team but it is a low risk move.

Final Offer On Table?

UPDATE: From MLB.com
"Various reports continue to link Bedard with the Mariners as Spring Training approaches. A source told MLB.com on Sunday that the Orioles have given up trying to obtain reliever Brandon Morrow in the deal, and would instead accept Mariners Minor League Pitcher of the Year Chris Tillman. Baltimore also apparently wants left-handed reliever George Sherrill included in the deal"

Jason Churchill is saying the Mariners offered Jones/Clement/Sherrill for Bedard and the Orioles countered asking either Triunfel or Morrow be swapped with Clement or there would be no deal. A source of Churchill also mentioned that he thinks Bedard will be introduced to Seattle by Thursday and that the mariners would cave on the deal but would prefer to include Morrow over Triunfel if they had too.

In my opinion with the pressure Bavasi is under to save his job he will cave and pull the trigger on a Jones/Morrow/Sherrill for Bedard deal.

Jones Pulled from Winter Ball

Is this the sign that a trade is going to happen or do the mariners just want to rest Jones for the season, only time will tell. I do find it interesting that they would pull him during the playoffs of the winter league when there is only a week left in the season.

Cameron Signs With Brewers

Former Mariner favorite Mike Cameron has signed a 1 year deal with a club option for 2009 so even if we do trade Jones we won't be gettin Cameron. Terms of the deal have not been announced.

Bedard Trade Getting Closer

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal is now reporting that the deal is almost complete and that only one player is stopping the trade from happening. He says the orioles want Chris Tillman but the mariners don't want to give him up. He mentions Triunfel and Sherrill as possibly being part of the deal.

According to Jason Churchill and Ken Rosenthal the Mariners and Orioles are getting closer on a deal for Erik Bedard. The only definite we know to be in the deal is Adam Jones and everyone else varies by who you listen too. There is no way of knowing how good Jones or triunfel or clement are gonna be in the future. It is a lot to be giving up for bedard but if they can get bedard to sign an extension the trade wont look too bad. The Mariners would be drastically improved with the addition of bedard, would it be enough to win the division who knows but for people who don't think they will just look at the Rockies. The Rockies were picked to come in last and they made it to the world series with Arron cook as their #2. All I'm saying is theirs so much parody in sports anything can happen.

In terms of Prospects let me throw a name at you Ruben Rivera. He was the #1 prospect in baseball and was supposed to be a cant miss star and look what happened to him. For all we know Adam Jones can turn out to stink and triunfel is only 17 so I'm asking to reserve judgment on the possible trade for a couple of years

Konerko to Angels?

Sorry for the lack of posting i was on vacation. As for this rumor of konerko and crede to the angels for kendrick, adenhart, santana and another prospect, this would be a bad trade for the angels. Konerko is 32 years old and is already ready starting to decline plus the move to a more pitcher friendly park does not bode well for him. Crede sucks so you don't have to worry about facing him in the lineup. As for the Angels thinking on this. Kotchman had the same ops as konerko did last year and kendrick is going to be a perrenial all star soon. According to past reports the angels coulkd have had miguel cabrera for a similar package with maybe one or two more pieces, so i don't understand the reasoning for this trade. Where do the Angels expect to play all of these guys. I think the white sox did well here. Adenhart is one of the top 30 prospects in baseball and santana still has the potential to be a very good pitcher, but the prize of the deal is kendrick as he will challenge for the lead in average for years to come. If you're a mariners fan you want this trade to go through as it might make the Angels lineup better this year, but their future is not looking to bright as konerko, vlad, hunter are all entering the declining stages of thier careers.