Detailing how a "done deal" took time to become reality

In the big picture, of course, it won't matter one iota how long it took for the Mariners and Orioles to consummate the trade that was mercifully, and anti-climactically, announced Friday.

But given the frenzied interest over the past two weeks in whether the two teams would get 'er done, it's only fair to try to figure out how this went off track.

Turns out that Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi felt confident the deal was done as far back as Jan. 24 — three days before Adam Jones was pulled from his Venezuelan team.

That's when Bavasi stepped to the podium at a media luncheon and talked with optimism about the M's chances of adding a frontline pitcher.

"I probably was a little too aggressive in what I was telling you at the time," he said Friday. "But we had a deal in place at the time. We really felt it would go through. It was easy to say we could get a deal done, because we had one done."

Uh, not so fast. As Bavasi aptly added, "The only thing left was details. The devil's in the details, and sometimes it takes longer."

The details of this trade definitely had a satanic twist. Orioles GM Andy MacPhail put it more tactfully while talking to reporters in Baltimore on Friday: "All good things happen at their own pace and time."

Fast forward to Jan. 27, when Bavasi called Jones in Venezuela and told him to get to Baltimore for a physical because the Mariners had a prospective trade. Jones was honest when asked by reporters, telling what he knew, and what he thought it meant.

"He was told to go get checked," Bavasi said. "That's it. He wasn't told who was involved, or anything like that. We told him there was a prospective deal, and to go. He came up with Bedard on his own."

Bavasi stressed that he had no problems at all with Jones' comments. "You couldn't script it better for a young guy. As usual, he handled himself perfectly."

In a conference call, Jones said that since he had been pulled from the winter-league playoffs, he felt an obligation to explain to fans and teammates what was happening.

"I was not sure about everything, but I put one and one together, and you know what you have out of it," he said. "It blew up quickly, and everyone started to know about it. I'm glad it's over. No one's hurt over it, and now we can move forward."

While Bavasi said he didn't think Jones' "outing" of the trade greatly affected the timing, there were definite indications it slowed the process.

For one thing, the Orioles promptly canceled Jones' physical. MacPhail seemed to confirm an ESPN report that the team sought written language concerning the results of any physicals before proceeding.

"This was a big move, and both teams needed to satisfy themselves and go through the medical protocol," MacPhail said.

"When we had a hiccup on the 27th, we had to go back to the league and make sure certain safeguards were in place on both sides. Once we did that, we re-upped the thing and got it going again. It was really pretty straight forward."

The Orioles and M's, it turns out, also needed to get permission from the commissioner's office before bringing Jones and George Sherrill to Baltimore for a physical. That added to the delay.

Asked about the media report that the Orioles were supposedly concerned that Jones had a degenerative hip condition, Bavasi replied, "Degenerative hip condition means he's got arthritis. There's nothing to that."

Concerning the physicals for Jones and Sherrill, Bavasi added, "I just felt they did a good job in going through our files. Not every team does that. We each share medical files once it comes to a deal.

"They went through our five guys, and three they passed off as clean because of the files. Two they wanted to run physicals. I think they were just being careful. ... I think they did exactly what we would have done."

As for the alleged interference of Baltimore owner Peter Angelos, Bavasi said all his dealings were with MacPhail. He declined to speculate on the influence of the notoriously meddlesome Angelos, deferring questions to MacPhail, who claimed Angelos was nothing but supportive of the Orioles' rebuilding campaign.

"He's been on board and he's been great, witnessed by trading one of the game's best left-handed pitchers," MacPhail said. "This is clearly something that I think is going to be in our long-term best interest."

Bavasi feels the same way, and was relieved that he only had to give up one elite prospect, Jones, along with Sherrill and three minor-league pitchers. The Mariners held firm on giving up the likes of Brandon Morrow, Carlos Triunfel and Jeff Clement.

"Their goal was to come away with two Jones-type guys, and our goal was to give them one, and some other numbers," he said. "They did a good job. They came up with the right names after Jones."

Said MacPhail of the bartering that actually began at the winter meetings in December "He [Bavasi] was thinking this was going to be a 3-for-1 in the beginning, and that's not where we were going. He did a good job holding onto those assets that he thought were important for his franchise.

"We agreed to three names fairly quickly, but getting the fourth and fifth names out of him was like getting water out of a stone."

At the winter meetings, Bavasi revealed Friday, the Mariners were also talking to the Twins about Johan Santana. That pursuit died shortly thereafter when Santana made it clear he had no interest in giving up his no-trade clause to go to Seattle.

But at one point in December, in their hotel suite in Nashville, the Mariners had a potential trade for Santana posted on a bulletin board for evaluation.

"We were talking Jones, Morrow, Clement — it was a batch of guys," Bavasi said. "It was pretty damned steep. One of our scouts said, 'If that works, you're a hero. If it doesn't, you've ruined this organization for about 20 years.' "

The Bedard deal may lead to triumph or ruination for the Mariners. But Friday, the fact that it was simply a done deal was a huge relief to all.

Larry Stone: 206-464-3146 or lstone@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists