Trade Review: Mariners Ship Adam Jones for Erik Bedard

Look at that incredible picture of Adam Jones in that beautiful Mariners uniform. If you don’t shed a tear looking at that, then you aren’t a real Mariners fan.

February 8^th, 2008, the day the M’s lost AdamJones. It was a miserable day in Mariners history. This is an account of all the unfortunate events that took place that day.

The Mariners traded a young rapidly developing centerfielder, an eventual All-Star closer, an eventual All-Star starting pitcher and two other prospects to the Orioles for a left-handed pitcher who struck a bunch of guys out one year.  This was also the day I vowed not to attend a Mariners game until Bedard was gone.

First of all, who trades five players for one guy who only plays every five days? The “immaculate” Bill Bavasi, that’s who.

Jones had not yet become the star he is today with the Mariners, but he had shown great promise, and everybody in Seattle was excited about his future.

George Sherrill, a personal favorite of mine, was a reliable reliever who had a great year in 2007 with a 2.36 ERA and a .98 WHIP in 73 games.

Bedard was a one-year-wonder in 2007 with Baltimore before the Mariners decided they HAD to have him.  That year Bedard had a 3.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 28 starts, most importantly he had 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings which was his main attraction.  But Bedard did not even get to 200 innings pitched that year, something Felix consistently reaches.

That year Bedard had a 3.16 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 28 starts, most importantly he had 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings which was his main attraction.  But Bedard did not even get to 200 innings pitched that year, something Felix had consistently reached.

Fans feelings were mixed with this trade. Some liked it and some hated it.  As you can tell, I was certainly not a fan.

Bedard started Opening Day for the Mariners in 2008, another ridiculous decision the Mariners made.  Felix’s Opening Day starts streak would only be longer if not for that unfortunate event.

Looking back at it, Bedard wasn’t as terrible as I remember.  His main issue was his inability to stay healthy never pitching more than 92 innings in his two and a half years with the M’s.

His best year with Seattle was a year after he was acquired, in 2009 he had a 2.82 ERA and a 1.1 WHIP, but he only had 15 starts.

The following year he was traded away to the Red Sox. I could finally go to a Mariners game again, and os could other fans too who were dejected by the swap.

That was until they remembered what Jones was doing in Baltimore.  During his nine years with the Orioles Jones has hit 222 home runs and driven in 730 runs while hitting .278 and slugging .462, all while playing above-average in centerfield.

Jones has been an all-star 5 times, received MVP votes in 3 different years, won 4 Gold Gloves, and 1 silver slugger.

The flat bill wearing George Sherrill was an All-Star in 2008 with the Orioles recording 31 saves before being traded away the following year.  Sherrill eventually made it back to Seattle in 2012, but that didn’t go so well.

When the Mariners made that trade, their rotation was going to include Bedard, Carlos Silva, Miguel Bautista, Jarrod Washburn, and Felix. That might be the saddest thing ever.

And let’s not forget another piece in this trade that was shipped off to the Orioles, Chris Tillman.

It took awhile for him to develop, but in 2012 he had 2.93 ERA in 15 starts and the following year he won 16 games and was an All-Star.

Tillman has struggled since but was still more productive than Bedard. Tillman is still pitching in the majors, Bedard hasn’t thrown a pitch in the big leagues since 2014.

Another player involved in that trade, Tony Butler, a 6’7” left-handed pitcher never made it to the majors and eventually made it back to the Mariners organization. He was originally a third-round pick of the Mariners in the 2006 amateur draft.

The final player in this trade was a right-handed pitcher named Kam Mickolio.  He was 6’9” and did eventually make it to the majors.  From 2008-2011 he spent time with the Orioles and the Diamondbacks appearing in 29 games with a 4.83 ERA.

Even before any of these players stepped on the field after this trade, you could tell that the Mariners gave up way too much and that the deal had backfired big time.

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Bedard really wasn’t that bad during his time with the Mariners. If he had been able to stay healthy, he might have been able to put up some respectable numbers.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t,  so it is very hard to say anything good about him during his time with the Mariners, especially comparing him to the three All-Stars the Mariners gave up to get him.  Adam Jones, one of the best outfielders in baseball, in particular.

The M’s sure could have used that man’s bat in the lineup and over the past nine seasons.

How lopsided this trade ended up being in unbelievable and a terrible memory for Mariners fans that they will not soon forget.

Next: Mariners Still Searching For The Next Rotation Arm

I would like to apologize to Erik Bedard for using him as the punchline to so many sad Mariners jokes over the years.  And to Adam Jones, Seattle misses you, please come home soon. Bill Bavasi is no longer here.