The Matter With Erik Bedard

Recently, I was wondering just what went wrong with Erik Bedard this time. Did he re-aggravate his labrum injury? Did he do something to his rotator cuff? Was it something else entirely? Knowing what happened to Erik Bedard just prior to his return to Seattle, I felt, is of vital importance in determining whether or not he still has a career out in front of him, yet all anyone had told us was that Bedard was getting another operation on his shoulder. No details, no nothing.

I was prepared to accept this, too, but then hot sexy reader Elena Val sent along this hot sexy tip from Marc Brassard at Le Droit. You'll remember Marc Brassard and Le Droit for breaking the story that Bedard was coming back last February. They're back! And better than ever. That mustache kills.

Following a little translation I performed using the internet:

The three doctors consulted in recent weeks (Khalfayan, Yocum and Dr. David Altcheck, New York) detected osteophytes ("bone spurs" in English) in the joint of his shoulder. "They told me they just have to remove and rehabilitation should be shorter than my last operation, I should be ready in time for training camp," recounted Bedard.

Bone spurs. That's about as minor as it gets, and though it's certainly worrisome that Bedard just keeps on ending up injured, it is important to note that this isn't another major shoulder problem. He just has a few floating bodies that doctors are going to take out. Once they're out, he'll be good to go.

So that's something. This is also something:

It remains to be seen whether Seattle wants to take a chance again to offer him another contract next winter after the last operation. "If they still want me, I would like to return. But we'll see, after a season as the Mariners come to know, there may be many changes, it is the nature of this 'business'," said Erik Bedard.

There's your money quote. If the Mariners are interested in having Bedard come back for yet another go-around, they'll probably be able to get him locked up, and honestly, even though Bedard hasn't thrown a Major League pitch for a year and a half, I still love the idea. The Mariners are going to need help in next year's rotation, there's not a whole lot on the market, and though we're all certainly aware of the risks, Bedard has that high-upside potential that always works like a tractor beam on my brain. The same argument in support of Bedard a year ago still applies now. It's just that this time, he could cost a little less, and he'll be coming off a less significant operation.

Erik Bedard in 2011. Why not?