Mariners | Is Jones-Bedard trade a done deal?

A winter-long quest by the Mariners to obtain Baltimore Orioles pitcher Erik Bedard is expected to play itself out later today.

The oft-rumored trade between the teams is said to be close to completion, with Seattle having called outfielder Adam Jones home early from his winter-ball stint in Venezuela. Jones told a reporter in Venezuela that he was headed to Baltimore for a physical and that Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi had made him the centerpiece of a deal for Bedard.

"We've told him to come home to the U.S.," Mariners spokesman Tim Hevly said of Jones leaving his team in the middle of the Venezuelan winter league's championship series. "I can't say anything beyond that."

The Orioles spent much of Sunday denying that a deal had been finalized.

"We do not have an agreement with the Mariners," Orioles president Andy MacPhail told the Baltimore Sun.

But MacPhail's statement could amount to mere semantics, since many trades are not technically complete until physicals have been taken by the main players involved. A Mariners source said Sunday evening that the deal was not yet complete, but close.

One wild card to the entire scenario is Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who has been known to pull the rug out from under his front office at the last minute on deals that are reached in principle. What is known is that Jones was called home and told the Diario Panorama in Venezuela on Sunday that he was leaving the South American country this morning and flying to Baltimore so he could take a physical there.

It was unclear when the physical would be taken. MacPhail steadfastly denied that it would be in Baltimore today. It is possible the Mariners would fly Jones to Baltimore so he could be on standby for a physical once a nearly completed deal was finally reached.

"[Bavasi] called me [Saturday] and told me the news," Jones told the Venezuelan newspaper. "I've got to go to Baltimore [this] morning and handle things there. 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.

"He's one of the best. Last year, he finished up as arguably one of the top candidates for the Cy Young. He's that good, so for me, it's an honor. You know, I like Seattle, but if I am in Baltimore, as I think I am now, I'm going to embrace it and have the best time of my life in Major League Baseball."

Former major-leaguer Luis Sojo, manager of the Lara Cardenales, the winter ball team Jones was playing for, also told reporters Jones was headed to the U.S. for a physical. The team played Game 4 of the Venezuelan championship series on Sunday minus Jones.

"It sucks, I want to play," Jones said before the game. "This is Game 4 of the finals and I really want to be there for my team, but it's something that all the guys understand. I really want to play, but I can't."

Jones made it clear he fully expects to be playing in Baltimore next season.

"It's going to be weird being in a whole new organization," he said. "I've got to go to Florida for spring training, but I just have to go over there, just meet all the guys, get in with them good and play baseball the way I know I play."

There is no word yet on which other Mariners players or prospects are being included in the deal. Besides Jones, Mariners reliever George Sherrill and minor-league pitcher Chris Tillman have been the most often mentioned, though it's possible another minor-leaguer could be added.

Sherrill said Sunday evening that he had yet to be told he was part of the trade package.

"I hope if I am part of it that somebody tells me before Wednesday, because that's when we're supposed to head down to Phoenix," Sherrill said of his departure for spring training. "I spoke to [manager] John [McLaren] recently and I let him know that I want to be a Mariner for life.

"It's the team that plucked me out of the Independent League, and so I'll always have a spot in my heart for it and want to stay with the organization. But I know that rarely happens anymore."

Sherrill took a physical at season's end and recently had his contract renewed by the Mariners without taking another one. It's unclear whether he would need to take an additional physical before a deal could be completed, though his previous elbow woes would seem to make that something the Orioles would want.

Bedard was 13-5 with a 3.16 earned-run average for the Orioles last season in a campaign that ended for him on Aug. 25 because of a strained oblique muscle. Before the injury, he had been considered a leading Cy Young contender, having logged 182 innings pitched and 221 strikeouts.

The left-hander has two years remaining before he is eligible for free agency. He could earn up to $8 million in arbitration this season, but he said in an interview with the Sun on Friday that he is open to a possible contract extension.

Bedard would become the No. 1 starter in Seattle's rotation, ahead of incumbent Felix Hernandez, and give the Mariners one of the better one-two punches in baseball. Bedard's agent, Mark Pieper, said Sunday that he had yet to be told of a deal involving his client.

Jones is a highly touted outfield prospect who had 25 home runs and 84 runs batted in with a .967 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for Class AAA Tacoma last year.

He was called up by the Mariners in August and slotted to start in right field this season. The Orioles hope to make him their center fielder and a cornerstone of their rebuilding franchise for years to come.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com