Orioles Making a Pitch to Keep Erik Bedard Beyond 2009

Good pitching in the American League is hard to find. Good left-handed pitching is even harder to find. The Baltimore Orioles know what they have in Erik Bedard, and they know they need to keep him in an O's uniform as long as they can. Bedard finished the 2007 season 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA. He compiled 221 strike outs in 182 innings before being shelved with an oblique injury. His numbers in 2006 were impressive as well: 15-11 with a 3.76 ERA and 171 strike outs in just under 200 innings.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Andy MacPhail is planning on working with Bedard's agent Mark Pieper on an extension before the start of the winter meetings in early December. In the current market, it is not unreasonable to expect Bedard to bring in $18-20 million per year in a 4-year deal. That being said, Andy MacPhail also left the door open for a trade:

MacPhail made it clear last week at the GM meetings that every player in the organization is available. Predictably, Bedard, who was one of the front-runners for the American League Cy Young Award before his injury, was a popular target in a market short of quality pitching.

"We've taken the position that we're obligated to entertain offers on virtually any of our players," MacPhail said, declining to specifically talk about Bedard.

Personally, I think the O's would be crazy to trade Bedard. He is the type of ace a team could build around. When you've been wallowing in fourth place for as long as fans can remember, a guy like Bedard could become the face of the franchise and put Oriole fans back in the seats at Camden Yards.