And I’ve really had enough of nonsense like this:

I have also.

Is a B-level pick really worth the risk of actually having to pay him?

Unless he completely breaks down and misses almost the entire season the risk we’re talking about is quite small. For every inning he pitches less than the 100 innings+ we’d like you can knock some money off his value, but even if he only pitches 81 innings, as he did in 2008, then that would equate to a few million dollars. A worst case scenario of squandering a few million dollars on overpaying him and a best case scenario of either having a Bedard 2006/2007 performance or a top 50 draft pick isn’t a bad situation to be in.

when he stubs his tow or when doesn’t like the breakfast he has

Throwing a baseball 90+ MPH with movement and precision is an incredibly unnatural act that few bodies can consistently sustain. That his body isn’t as good at it as the charmed few says nothing about his toughness or character or whatever.

Do you make disparaging remarks about co-workers who miss work for cancer treatments?

If he’s 2+ WAR for 100 innings, why not? Frequently injured players are frustrating, but at 9 mil, he’s got more upside than down.

What having Bedard in your rotation means is having your bullpen put in about 70 more innings, usually filled in with long relievers like Miguel Batista. Stack on top of that having to pull in 6th and 7th starters to replace him when he stubs his tow or when doesn’t like the breakfast he has, and decides to go on the DL.

Didn’t someone once say something about the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

Is a B-level pick really worth the risk of actually having to pay him?

But, in the other direction, is there some team out there dumb enough to sign him to a long enough contract? Texas, perhaps? A team with more money than good sense?

Now this may just be ‘scout-talk’ and not have much statistical backing (to this point) but a large part of Erik Bedard’s game relies on getting people to swing and miss.

Problem I see with him (especially this year) is he really doesn’t hit the strike zone enough for his game plan to continue to be effective. I believe as more and more teams embrace the ‘patients = good offense’ mentality, Bedard is going to have more struggles like we’ve seen this year. I do not believe Erik Bedard is a front of the rotation starter anymore.

However, weighing the benefits of offering arbitration, I think the M’s might as well go for it. The M’s should have plenty of cash so paying him shouldn’t be a problem. If he does accept however, have realistic expectations, don’t rely on him to be your #2 behind King Felix if you want to win next year.

Washburn- He is defiantly putting up career numbers this year and is actually almost pitching himself into the Cy Young debate. You know when the last time he put up career numbers was? Yup, you guessed it, it was the last time he was in a contract year.

Only way I possibly think of keeping this guy around is if he takes a “I sucked for most of my contract and much of my success this year is due to the defense behind me so I’ll take a discount to stay and continue to benefit from this ballpark/defense and will sign before the deadline” contract.

Otherwise trade this guy NOW and get something in return while you still can. I hate to say it, but the front office cock-blocking his trade last year is actually looking like a good move, but seriously, cash out while you are still ahead. We sign this guy to yet another long term, big money deal we can expect exactly what we got from him over this current contract. Did everyone forget what a “great teammate” this guy was when we were loosing?

That said, it’s still a minor factor. In most cases, I’ll take the +2 win/half season guy, count on my ability to get better than a +0 win replacement, and end up with 2.5 to 3.0 wins in total.

At the very least, assuming you had a great minor league free agent signing cooling their heels in AAA, the total cost is now +$500k.

Exactly, so why is the total cost now +500k?