Sport Talker

Projected Standings:

1) Boston Red Sox
2) New York Yankees
3) Toronto Blue Jays
4) Tampa Bay Rays
5) Baltimore Orioles

Erik Bedard’s trade to the Seattle Mariners seems to have finally been completed. This deal has been in talks for a couple of months now and has been announced as on & off several times. The Orioles are expected to acquire Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler for Bedard. Bedard took and apparently passed his physical Thursday, so an official announcement should be coming shortly.

Bedard is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but will turn 29 years old before Opening Day, has yet to throw 200 innings in a season and can become a free agent following the 2009 season. He’ll form a fantastic one-two punch atop the Mariners’ rotation alongside Felix Hernandez, but Seattle paid a huge price to acquire him and may regret the move if they aren’t able to sign him to a long-term contract extension. The move to Seattle’s pitcher-friendly ballpark should help Bedard and with Johan Santana gone he’s now the top fantasy pitcher in the AL. Bedard’s arrival knocks Horacio Ramirez out of the rotation and makes it likely that Brandon Morrow will remain in the bullpen.

As we approach the completion of May, Major League Baseball completes the first third of the 2007 season. Lots of baseball remains, but yet the standings are beginning to shape up and we begin to see who are contenders and who aren’t.

In the American League East, the Boston Red Sox are in control and hold a 11 1/2 game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. Though Red Sox ace, Josh Beckett, is mid-way through a DL stint for blister problems on his throwing hand, he still is close to the major league lead in wins with 7, just trailing Los Angeles Angels’ John Lackey who just won his 8th game.
Yankee third baseman, Alex Rodriguez’s hot April, where he hit a record tying 14 home runs, didn’t lift the team as high as he would have hopes. Though the Yankee’s will vastly improve their rotation with the addition of aging ace, Roger Clemens, who may start as soon as June 4th against the Chicago White Sox.

For Baltimore, Erik Bedard has been brilliant, racking up 83 strikeouts in only 68 innings pitched. Poor run support and a poor bullpen has been costly for Bedard, who’s record is a dismal 3-3. Baltimore, 11 1/2 games back from Boston, is holding onto second place in the division by a mere half game over Toronto.