What the...?

From the Seattle Times

M's would-be deal for Bedard is stalled

The Mariners' efforts to obtain Baltimore's ace left-hander Erik Bedard, seemingly on track over the weekend for a blockbuster trade centered on Seattle outfielder Adam Jones, have hit a snag.

Jones was reported Monday afternoon to still be in Venezuela, rather than heading to Baltimore for a physical exam originally scheduled for Monday or today, but then canceled.

Meanwhile, there is widespread speculation Orioles owner Peter Angelos is threatening to squelch the trade, after the teams reportedly had agreed to the basic structure of a deal that would have sent Jones, reliever George Sherrill, 19-year-old pitcher Chris Tillman and one or two other prospects to Baltimore for Bedard.

"We are where we were last night," Andy MacPhail, the Orioles' president of baseball operations, told The Baltimore Sun on Monday. "We have no agreement."

But, here is the really, really interesting part, in bold below:

On Sunday, Jones was pulled out of the winter-league playoffs in Venezuela by the Mariners and told to return to the United States. He indicated to a reporter from the Diario Panorama newspaper of Maracaibo, Venezuela, that he was headed to Baltimore for a physical as a prelude to a Bedard trade.

"I've got to go to Baltimore this morning and handle things there," Jones said on Sunday. "I'm the centerpiece of the deal on the Mariners' side. It's an honor to get traded for such a highly talented pitcher as Bedard is."

But on Monday afternoon, Jones sent an e-mail to KOMO radio reporter Shannon Drayer saying that he was still in Venezuela.

Drayer reported on her KOMO blog that Jones was "obeying orders from his MLB team and not playing. He said he said nothing about being traded to the Venezuelan press ... Adam says he does not know what is going on, and that with his winter-league team in the finals, it sucks to not be able to help them."

The Seattle Times listened to the tape of Jones' interview with the Venezuelan newspaper via telephone, which revealed he was quoted accurately throughout.

The Mariners had confirmed on Sunday that Jones was told by them to come home. On Monday, Mariners spokesman Tim Hevly said, "We've asked him to come home. That hasn't changed."

Over at the M's site there is this:

O's denying reports of Bedard deal

The Erik Bedard-to-Seattle rumors continue to have a life of their own, and the Orioles continue to deny any semblance of accuracy in the various reports.

Andy MacPhail, Baltimore's president of operations, reiterated on Monday afternoon that there is no trade in place and that he's not sure where the rumors originated. That denial, issued in the face of repeated requests for comment, lends new perspective to a story that has steadily built over the last 36 hours.

"As I said last night, we don't have an agreement with Seattle or any other team," he said. "I'm not expecting anything in the next few days and I'd be surprised if anything developed in the next few days."

Lookout Landing just wants it to be over.

We've been talking about Erik Bedard since the beginning of December.

This is so stupid.

That LL post has a link to a Ken Rosenthal story at FOX. The first sentence tells the whole story, but do follow that link to gaze deeply into why the Orioles haven't had a winning season since...

As usual with the Orioles, confusion reigns.