The O's Won A Trade; huh?

Greensboro, NC -- Since the apex of Peter Angelos' reign as owner, the Orioles have been the devil dogs of Major League Baseball. Since the brilliant GM Pat Gillick was shown the door following the mediocre 1998 season, the Orioles have had a milquetoast in the GM's chair. But one can't help but notice when Angelos hired Andy MacPhail in the middle of last summer to usurp all GM duties from the bland Mike Flanagan as President of Baseball Operations that the O's misfortunes have turned a little bit.

Signing their two round 1 sections -- stud C Matt Wieters and ace-in-the-making lefty Brian Matusz -- are good moves for this moribund franchise. The massive 5 for 1 Tejada trade is too early to judge because all of the young players in the deal have yet to develop. But one deal that is looking like a steal is the Erik Bedard trade.

Bedard numbers this year: 6-4, 3.67 ERA, 72 K's, 81 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 37 BB's.

Adam Jones, the centerpiece of the deal, isn't lighting up the league -- yet -- but he has shown promise, especially when he began heating up along with the weather in mid-May: 0.270 BA, 9 HR's, 57 RBI's.

But what about George Sherrill, the All-Star? 31 saves and 55 K's in 50 innings. Maybe MacPhail can parlay his All-Star status into a trade for another grade A or B prospect or two?

Chris Tillman? Read this Keith Law article. He's tearing up the AA-Eastern League.

The lesson learned from this trade is that 3 for 1 or 5 for 1 trades never work. The Orioles haven't been on the "1" side since they were burned in that lopsided Glenn Davis trade in 1991. What's striking for the Mariners was the fact that while Bedard has always shown promise, he had only one, solid year under his belt. He has a chilly personality that the Orioles didn't need in their youth movement, which the Mariners are seeing now. He has one more year left before he's eligible for free agency. On top of all of this, he's out for 9 months with shoulder surgery. Those injuries take time, so don't expect him back when he's eligible to come off the DL.

What seemed unfathomable at the beginning of the season is now a legitimate question... Should the Mariners non-tender Bedard this offseason? Why would you pay $10M for a pitcher who may come back for half the season, then depart via free agency?

Chalk up a "W" for MacPhail and the Orioles on this one.

Happy 1, SP.