This week's hottest Royals-related rumor remains the rumbling that Dayton Moore is close to signing Erik Bedard to a short-term deal. For whatever reason, a one year, ~$3 million dollar deal has been bandied about.
So how should we feel about this? Honestly, I'm not sure. Possible responses, from most positive to least positive are below.
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Joyous Response: Tooooooools! Once a player displays a tool, he owns that tool. Bedard is a legitimate ace! Earn Bedard's respect with a short-term deal, then begin selling him on KC once the season begins. He'll love pitching with Greinke! Bedard gives the Royals the best 1-2-3 in the American League.
- Happy Response: As long as the money is reasonable, this is great news. Sure, it might not work out, but there's a possibility that Bedard could be healthy and be awesome, equaling a win for the Royals. This is precisely what a small-market team like the Royals should be doing.
- Mildly Measured Response: The odds that Bedard is part of the next contending Royals team are minuscule. Still, as long as the money's right, who cares? Maybe he's able to pitch, and the Royals actually start strong and sustain it. It's the AL [blanking] Central.
- Mostly Measured Response: At worst, he's a gamble that doesn't pay off. Honestly, I don't expect him to. However, he might start strong and then he's the trade chip of the hour at the '10 Trade Deadline.
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Softly Sour Response: Bedard can help lead us to 79 wins. Ironic "huzza". Trade bait? Dayton Moore doesn't make in-season trades. Another ex-Mariner to boot. This is simply a move the Royals don't need to make. I'd rather see that money thrown back into the signing bonus pool.
- Stridently Sour Response: So for weeks the Royals have said they need to shed payroll, that they need to get young, that they need us to trust the process. Instead, it looks like that once again, Dayton can't contain himself. Once again, we're buying a player's past performance. Eight Bedard starts (along with 400 status-update stories) with the Royals is a waste of everyone's time. It's better to use those starts to see what the Royals have with the Bannister-Hochevar-Tejeda-Davies gaggle. It's complicated enough, and we don't need to throw another body into the mix. Let's see what the money ends up being. The years too. Dayton's been absolutely brutal on the FA market. Be afraid of this rumor, because it signals another silly season from Dayton Moore.
Me? I'm in the middle. It's hard to talk about a deal like this, when 90% of the discussion is centered around the money and years involved. Remember, for years we've been told the Royals have to overspend to get players here. Plus, this is Dayton Moore, should we really expect a bargain contract?
Still, Bedard's been around more than I thought. I imagined that he'd made like 17 starts total as a Mariner, but he made 30 total in two years. I'm not super jazzed about the possibility here, but I guess let's see what the future holds.