In February 2008, the Orioles made their second major trade in the MacPhail regime, this time sending ace lefty Eric Bedard for four pitchers and outfielder Adam Jones. George Sherrill immediately paid dividends by nailing down the closer role; Jones made the all-star team in his second season with the O's, knocking in the winning run with a clutch sacrifice fly in the late innings; and Chris Tillman made it into the rotation during the latter half of last season. The following article appeared on MLB.com in Februrary 2008, announcing the trade.BALTIMORE -- The soap opera surrounding Erik Bedard's team affiliation finally ended with a logical conclusion Friday, when the Orioles completed a long-rumored deal that sent their staff ace to Seattle in exchange for five prospects. Center fielder Adam Jones, who unwittingly set off the alarm nearly two weeks ago, was the centerpiece of the deal.
Baltimore also received left-handed reliever George Sherrill and three Minor League pitching prospects, including Chris Tillman, Seattle's reigning Minor League Pitcher of the Year, southpaw starter Tony Butler and right-handed reliever Kam Mickolio
Andy MacPhail, Baltimore's president of baseball operations, broke the trade down fairly easily.
"It was important to Seattle to get better in 2008, so we had to construct a deal that didn't really detract from their 2008 [team]," he said. "It really had to be something where we were giving up more of a known commodity. ... In exchange, we felt we had to get meaningful players that could be big contributors to us over a long period of time.
"We understand that with prospects, they're just that. There's no guarantee, and that's why bulk is important -- that's why you get five. This is the second transaction in which we were able to turn one player into [several]."
With that last comment, MacPhail was referring to the Miguel Tejada trade, which took place back in December. That deal set the rebuilding process in motion, and Baltimore set its sights on moving forward by trading Bedard.
The trade was reported, re-reported and analyzed extensively by several news sources over the 12 days, thanks largely to Jones admitting on the record to a Venezuelan reporter two Sundays ago that the deal was done before it had been offically consummated. That sent officials from both clubs into denial mode, and the story soon found itself out of control.
There were rumors that ownership had nixed the deal and that Jones had a medical condition causing the hangup, and there was also a credible report that the Orioles were making a last-ditch effort to sign Bedard before they traded him. In the end, the initial reports were the closest to the truth, but it took two weeks for that to become evident.
"I was just trying to let everybody know what was going on at the time, all the info I had," Jones said Friday. "It blew up quickly and everybody found out about it. ... I'm just glad nobody got hurt from it and we can move forward."
"I've been privately critical of journalism, in quotes," said MacPhail of the last two weeks. "This is a big move, and both teams needed to satisfy themselves and go through the medical protocol. Even after the 27th, you're talking about a good week before it [could've been] completed. So it took an extra week. In the grand scheme of things, whether the deal gets done Feb. 2 or Feb. 8, what matters is did both teams get what they were hoping to get in this deal?
"I do think its unfortunate that we had to go through a slew of rumors. We might've had a variety of about 10-to-12 scenarios, which by definition, even if somebody had it right on, 11 of them were wrong. We had secret negotiations going on in the backdrop, we had villains and none of that was accurate."
Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said that while it was disconcerting to wait through the process, he understood why it was happening and that his team would be better once everything was completed.
"It was a long and meticulous process. There were definitely certain stages that it had to go through," he said when reached by cell phone Friday afternoon. "There was definitely a protocol that had to be followed. There was a lot of thought that goes into these things and there's a lot of information-gathering that takes place.
"I think with anything of this magnitude, you take your time on it because you want to get it done right."
Even with the Bedard and Tejada trades done, the Orioles may still be looking at more transactions. Baltimore is also believed to be attempting to trade second baseman Brian Roberts, giving the team a complete facelift. The Cubs are the most frequently rumored destination for Roberts, who was Baltimore's only All-Star last season.
Bedard went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and set a franchise record for strikeouts last year (221). He'll also leave the Orioles without a true ace, but Baltimore has several younger arms capable of earning a back-end slot. The three starters with guaranteed jobs -- Jeremy Guthrie, Adam Loewen and Daniel Cabrera -- have combined for a 55-60 career record.
"You don't ever want to see Bedard leave, but it's just part of the business," said first baseman Kevin Millar. "You hear everybody say you're going to trade two players now and get nine or 10 players back. You're hoping that the scouting and everything you've done works out. Maybe there's a Francisco Liriano or a Scott Kazmir in there."
Jones, who hit .314 with 25 home runs and 84 RBIs for Triple-A Tacoma, was named Seattle's Minor League Player of the Year last season. That was the second time he's earned that designation. Jones, who's often compared to ex-Twins center fielder Torii Hunter, made his big league debut before his 21st birthday and has hit .230 in 139 Major League at-bats.
Trembley said he expects Jones to be the everyday center fielder from the moment he arrives at the team's Spring Training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but he's not sure where Jones fits in the batting order yet.
"Before getting cornered and saying something definite, I'd like to get him acclimated to being in the organization," he said. "I'd like all our coaches to take a look. He'll be in the lineup somewhere, but I just don't know where now."
"In the grand scheme of things, whether the deal gets done Feb. 2 or Feb. 8, what matters is did both teams get what they were hoping to get in this deal?"
-- Andy MacPhail, president of baseball operations
"We believe that Adam Jones -- if he isn't already now -- is going to grow into a great defender," MacPhail said. "I know that Adam's kind of the marquee name in the beginning of all this, but I just want to get this out. We have to understand that Adam is just 22 years old. He's been compared a lot, sometimes favorably to Torii Hunter.
"If you go back in Torii's career, when he was 22 he was hitting .231 for New Britain. Let's not put the expectations on this kid. Like any player, you have to make certain adjustments once you get to the big leagues."
Tillman, Seattle's Minor League Pitcher of the Year, has averaged nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings in the Minor Leagues. The former second-round Draft pick made 20 starts in the offense-friendly California League last year, notching a 6-7 record and a 5.26 ERA. The 19-year-old rung up 105 strikeouts and walked 48 batters for Class A High Desert.
Sherrill is the early favorite to serve as the team's closer next year, and Baltimore will add him to situational relievers Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker to help settle a bullpen filled with inexperienced arms.
"I want to get there early so I can throw a bullpen on Monday," he said. "It's definitely a sigh of relief to have it done, one way or the other. It's now a matter of being in a new division. I am not sure what role they want me to be in. We haven't discusssed that. I hate to leave Seattle, but this will be a new challenge and I'm looking forward to it."
Mickolio and Butler were the final two names in the trade, and MacPhail said they were part of the reason this trade took so long to complete. Seattle and Baltimore began talking as far back as the Winter Meetings, but the trade was never conceptually finished until the Mariners began to budge on adding two more names.
"[Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi] was thinking that this was going to be a 3-for-1 in the beginning, and that's not where we were going," said MacPhail. "He did a good job holding on to those assets that he thought was important to his franchise to hold onto, and that's why [it took so long]. We agreed to the first three names fairly quickly, but getting the fourth and fifth names out of him was like getting water out of a stone.
"It really wasn't until the end of January that we found an intersection of our self-interests to make the deal."
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