Pretty cool that this is probably the last post I'll write before I move. I love this post.
Erik Bedard passed his physical, which shouldn't come as a surprise, because had the Mariners figured his shoulder was still messed up, they wouldn't have tried to sign him. The end result is that he's officially signed on to a $1.5m base contract for 2010 with incentives coming out the ass that could push it all the way up to $8.5m. There's also an $8m mutual option for 2011, but mutual options never get exercised, because if the player is bad the team won't pick it up, and if the player is good the player won't pick it up. I'm not entirely sure why mutual options even exist.
Yusmeiro Petit is the guy that's been knocked off the 40-man to make room. As Dave already said:
If you’re wondering, they can’t put Bedard on the 60 day DL until the end of spring training, so for now, he’ll use up a 40-man roster spot. He’ll be DL’ed before the season starts, though, so if the team needs to add a non-roster player (like Josh Bard) to the team, they’ll have Bedard’s spot to do so.
Petit remains a mildly interesting starter candidate, but with names like Jason Vargas, Doug Fister, Ryan Feierabend, Garrett Olson, and Luke French already on the 40-man roster, he was kind of redundant. Plus, Nick Hill. Petit's a decent starter who'd be of more value somewhere else.
Overall, this is a surprising move that for months I never expected. As January rolled along and the Mariners kept looking for another arm, though, Bedard started to become a more realistic option, and now I couldn't really be happier with the direction they've gone. This probably does take the M's off the market for anyone else, especially if they think Bedard's going to hit some of his incentive clauses, but I suppose they could always try to sign Jarrod Washburn with loose change from the sofa. I just wouldn't count on it. The payroll, I imagine, is just about maxed out.
Through two years as a Mariner, Erik Bedard has managed a pair of half-seasons. A third would just be peaches. While I implore you to remain reasonable about your expectations, this could be pretty cool.