To make room for Putz, Seattle demoted Ryan Rowland-Smith to AAA Tacoma.  The reason that he was sent down was so that Seattle can properly convert him into a starter for the remainder of the season and beyond.  This is a smart move for Seattle, considering the farm system holds no worthwhile starters in the higher levels, save Ryan Feierabend.  Hopefully this move will not prevent the organization from doing the same thing with Brandon Morrow after the season or once Putz reestablishes himself as the team’s closer.

While Beltre is tremendously underrated around the league, it’s good to know that the Mariners organization knows how valuable he is.  The asking price was said to be “something like what the A’s got in the Joe Blanton deal,” probably translating as one of the Twins’ talented young starters currently in the bigs and 1-2 more top prospects.

I’m not sure Beltre would have accepted a trade to Minnesota anyway, as he’s rumored to want to return to Southern California.  Alright, Dodgers, make your offer! *crosses fingers and hopes for Loney and others

I would love to keep Beltre and think he is Seattle’s third most entertaining player to watch (behind Ichiro and King Felix), but if he’s going to be traded I’m glad the organization isn’t willing to settle.

The reason is that there are higher profile lefty relievers that still haven’t found a home.  Brian Fuentes, George Sherrill and Damaso Marte three of those “higher profile” players because they are all currently closers.  Fortunately for the Mariners there are more than two teams in search of southpaws.

The Florida Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs and maybe the Arizona Diamondbacks are clubs that would benefit by adding Rhodes, in my opinion, who is sporting a 3.06 ERA (2.70 vs lefties, 3.06 vs righties) with 21 Ks in 17.2 innings.  All these teams, the Marlins especially, could appreciate Rhodes cheap contract as well.  If the Yankees and Diamondbacks were indeed interested in Rhodes, Rhodes could be packaged with Raul Ibanez in a trade with either team to maximize their earnings.

While I haven’t caught wind of any specific rumors, wouldn’t it make sense for Rhodes to go to the Phillies?  Pat Gillick, general manager for the Phillies, was the GM for the Baltimore Orioles in the late ’90s where Rhodes was establishing himself as a solid reliever.  When Gillick went to Seattle in 2000 he brought Rhodes along and Rhodes put up some of the best seasons of his career.  Not only does Gillick have a relationship with Rhodes, but he has been stockpiling every former Seattle player he can get his hands on since arriving in Philadelphia, so I think the Phillies could definitely be the team Rhodes ends up with.

This little blurb is on several sites right now, but I can’t find a source article, so I can only assume it hasn’t been published yet.

Though the Mariners are probably just trying to get creative in their attempts to fill the first base void (they have Kenji Johjima taking grounders at first base, too), this could become become Clement’s permanent position sooner than later.  He’s not bad behind the plate if you discount his inability to throw out basestealers, but Adam Moore, Seattle’s top catching prospect now that Clement is a big leaguer, is making a lot of noise. 

Moore put up some gaudy numbers last year playing in High Desert, the most hitting friendly ballpark of the hitter heavy California League (A+), and many figured his production would drop off a bit with the promotion to AA West Tennessee.   Little dropoff occurred; he’s hitting .309/.380/.486 with 10 HR, 56 RBI with 22 doubles and 27 walks through 86 games.

With a promotion to AAA before the end of the season a possibility, Seattle should be looking ahead at ways to fit him onto the big league roster by 2010 or sooner.  Moving Clement would be the right move with Moore the superior defender.

Though we talked about this scenario several times before on this site, the M’s could simply be giving Clement ”some time at first base” just to shuffle the lineup here and there, but I prefer to look at the big picture.  In an ideal world we have Adam Moore at catcher, Jeff Clement at DH and Dennis Raben at first base in 2-3 years.

Bedard is currently on the 15-day DL and was delayed on returning to Seattle after the All-Star break, meaning he’ll only get a single start before the July 31st trade deadline if healthy.  Pair that with the dwindling list of teams that are willing to take a risk on top of the rotation help and Bedard’s chances of exiting Seattle this season are slim to none.

That isn’t a bad thing, of course.  Bedard’s value has got to be nearing an all time low right now, so Seattle might as well hold on to him and pray that he has a healthy and effective second half, reestablishing himself as a staff ace and upping his trade value.  At that point they could try and pawn him off on someone over the offseason. 

If the organization is really hellbent on moving Bedard this year, which I doubt they are, finding someone that matches up will be a struggle. 

Perhaps the St. Louis Cardinals could match up.  They’ve been discussed before, but their front office is currently unwilling to invest in a starting pitcher with four capable starters currently on the DL.  Manager Tony La Russa wants to bring someone in, so maybe he can convince the organization to pull the trigger as the deadline approaches.  They’re apparently willing to part with top prospect Colby Rasmus which makes a potential deal even more intriguing, even if it is a slight stretch to envision a broken down Bedard pulling in a prospect of such skill and stature.  Some pretty lopsided deals tend to go down at the deadline, so keep an eye on the Cardinals.

The Tampa Bay Rays had been rumored to be seeking another top of the rotation arm to go along with Scott Kazmir and James Shields, but the consensus among trade rumor junkies is that the rumor was started to drive up the price of guys like CC Sabathia.  I wouldn’t expect the Rays to pursue Bedard, especially with David Price as their ace in the hole.  If they did, you could expect Seattle to get something decent in return, as the Rays’ farm is stocked with top talent.

As far as I know the New York Yankees aren’t pursuing starting pitching, at least not aggressively, but they should be.  If they’re serious about contending this year they would be wise to look for a rotation upgrade, in my opinion.  Sidney Ponson has been surprisingly sharp and Darrell Rasner has been decent as the fifth starter, but Mike Mussina, Joba Chamberlain and Andy Pettitte may not match up well against some of the dynamic duos and trios that other playoff teams may be running out there.  The real reason I’m intrigued by the possibility of sending Bedard to the Bronx is because Raul Ibanez could be packaged into that deal, maximising the haul for the Mariners.  Unfortunately, New York doesn’t have the greatest farm system, so such a blockbuster may not work out, but it never hurts to speculate.

The Minnesota Twins are a team that could use a legitimate ace down the stretch.  While Bedard isn’t considered that by all, Livan Hernandez is considered an ace by no one.  They have a pretty good rotation, but adding Bedard would certainly help them.  I haven’t heard anything about the Twins pursuing starting pitching, but they have been interested in Adrian Beltre, so this is another situation where Seattle could potentially maximize the haul.  Could Minnesota’s payroll handle both these players?  Probably not, but owners and GMs tend to make things happen when their teams are on the brink, though Minnesota isn’t a franchise known for being big-time buyers.  Another case of pure speculation.

The Atlanta Braves, who currently sit at 6.5 games out, could become buyers.  Bedard might be a good fit for Atlanta as he would be a definite upgrade over three-fifths of their rotation and, if they make it, they could sandwich him between righties Tim Hudson and Jair Jurrjens during the playoffs.  This is yet another situation where Seattle could send someone with Bedard, as the Braves have expressed interest in Raul Ibanez. 

There doesn’t seem to be any other teams that could match up unless a major injury occured in a contender’s rotation, which would exponentially increase Seattle chances of dealing Bedard this season.  There doesn’t seem to be any teams out there that are craving Bedard’s services, and of those mentioned above, I would put them in this order of who is most likely to make a move for him:

1.) St. Louis Cardinals
2.) New York Yankees
3.) Atlanta Braves
4.) Tampa Bay Rays
5.) Minnesota Twins

And those destinations don’t look all that promising.  This was basically a long post saying “Erik Bedard is staying put unless something major happens that severely effects the starting pitching market.”

If for some reason you can’t read the subtitle there, it reads: “The Mariners filled key holes with the addition of reliever Chris Reitsma, designated hitter Jose Vidro, and starter Horacio Ramirez.”

Reading about how those three busts were filling “key holes” with their “unique skill sets” is funny enough, but it gets better! 

“I think I’m a bit of a gut-feeling pitcher.  I’ll do unconventional things, like throw six changeups in a row or six cutters in a row.” — Horacio Ramirez

That explains a lot!

I’m glad I found this old magazine.  I think I’ll pull out some quotes here and there when I need a laugh.

1.) Billy Beane continues to build his Oakland A’s into a future dynasty from within, this trade following other trades of his that brought in truckloads of top-tiered talent (Rich Harden, Nick Swisher, Dan Haren, etc). 

2.) Seattle will no longer be able to coax the Phillies into overpaying for Erik Bedard or Jarrod Washburn.

The much needed bidding war for Bedard seems more unlikely to happen by the day.

There are more pressing issues at hand, but would dealing Ichiro really be such a bad idea?  Bad PR and bad for attendance, but if Seattle can rid themselves of at least part of his massive contract while bringing in some top-notch youth, isn’t it a move you have to at least think about making?

He’s getting old and no matter how much we believe that he is half robot, he will begin breaking down sooner or later and will not continue to do what he does for the entire duration of his contract extension. 

I do not think Seattle trades him now, because they still want to field a team worth watching this season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the new GMs first order of business this winter is to deal him.

LaHair was thought to be called up when Richie Sexson was released, but he was dealing with turf toe and wasn’t able to play.

No news yet on the corresponding roster move, but if you look back a couple posts you’d have to think that the release of Jose Vidro is imminent.

LaHair is nothing special, but brings a left-handed bat with gap power to Safeco Field.  I’ve compared him to Ben Broussard on a few occasions, with his absolute (and most likely unreachable) ceiling being Casey Kotchman.  He is not the “first baseman of the future,” as Seattle has better options on their way, but he should be able to hold down the job for the remainder of the season and possibly next.

UPDATE: Tug Hulett was sent down.  Is Jose Vidro really going to be sticking around?

The first thing that came to mind for me when I heard the news was this: If Richie can’t handle the boo-birds in Seattle, how is he going to handle those “Bronx cheers” in New York?  He’ll get ripped to shreds!

The second thing was that he was released by the Mariners, in part, because he wasn’t willing to take on a part-time role with the team, but the Yankees are picking him up, from what I’m reading, to start against lefties.  I suppose that it is much easier to be a part-time player on a good team than a part-time player on one of the league’s worst teams.