Buzz: Bedard, O’s Apart; Mets deal rejected
According to today’s Baltimore Sun, negotiations on a contract extension between the Orioles and ace left hander Erik Bedard stalled yesterday, though talks aren’t considered “dead”.
Regarding the talks, Orioles president of baseball operations Andy McPhail said:
“We’ve had some conversations. We spoke again today, but I’d say that we’ve cooled in that area. We’ve gone on to other things. It doesn’t mean that [negotiations] can’t or won’t be started again. It just means that they’ve cooled for now.”
Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal noted in his column that “the Mets made a strong run at the Orioles’ Erik Bedard at the general managers’ meetings, only to be told that the Orioles wanted more time to try and sign Bedard long-term.”
In fact, today’s Sun cites “several industry sources” in saying that the Mets made a concrete offer to Baltimore, only to have it rejected. The rumored offer included outfielder Carlos Gomez, reliever Aaron Heilman and a third player, believed to be right hander Philip Humber.
…that’s actually a very strong offer, and one I could see the Orioles revisiting if they decide they can’t extend Bedard, and thus want to trade him… I could see them asking for Mike Pelfrey, instead, though, as some people are very down on Humber…
…of course, even if they don’t extend bedard, they have two years left on his contract, so they don’t have to move him, and coupled with the demand for an ace this off-season, they’re in a position of strength… meaning, they can ask for a whole lot from any team that misses out on Johan Santana…
