Bedard trade almost complete

At long last, the culmination to one of the most bizarrely-played-out trades in recent major-league history should be at hand.

A deal that would send Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Erik Bedard to the Mariners for outfielder Adam Jones, left-handed reliever George Sherrill and a trio of minor-leaguers is expected to be announced in the next 48 hours. Jones and Sherrill were in Baltimore for physicals Monday while it was confirmed by multiple sources that Seattle minor-league pitcher Chris Tillman has finally been told he will be traded.

All that seemingly remained as of late Monday was for Bedard to fly to Seattle and take a physical. Assuming the physicals go well, that would be followed by a trade announcement and news conference on Seattle's end, while the Orioles — who let Jones and Sherrill fly back to Seattle's training site in Peoria, Ariz., after their physicals — likely would hold just a conference call with the players they are receiving.

The deal has been hotly debated for weeks by Mariners fans. It brings a potential ace left-hander to Seattle's rotation while giving the Orioles a serious talent haul that should allow them to begin a lengthy rebuilding process.

But in the long run, this trade is also just as likely to be remembered for the postponements in pulling it off, the stickler-for-rules nature of Orioles owner Peter Angelos, as well as confusing statements by some of the deal's main participants. Not to mention the manner in which the 21st century media's speedy relaying of news and updates via the Internet — and the frenzied rumor mongering that followed — apparently caught both teams off-guard.

The saga began Jan. 26, when Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi telephoned Jones in Venezuela, where he'd been playing winter ball for the Lara Cardenales. Jones was told he could no longer play for the team, already three games into the country's best-of-seven championship round.

Jones showed up at the ballpark the following day to tell teammates why he had to quit. Moments later, he also told Augusto Cardenas, a reporter for the Diario Panorama daily newspaper in the Venezuelan city of Maracaibo, why he was flying to the United States early the next morning.

"[Bavasi] called me yesterday and told me the news," Jones said in an interview that was taped by Cardenas, adding that a pre-trade physical had been scheduled by the Orioles. "I've got to go to Baltimore tomorrow 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."

Cardenas realized this was big news in Seattle and — having a prior relationship with The Times — offered to relay the Jones quotes via e-mail.

Within minutes, the quotes were posted on The Times' Web site. The Mariners were contacted and spokesman Tim Hevly confirmed that Jones had indeed been recalled to the United States — but would not comment further.

In Baltimore, word of the Jones comments reached Orioles owner Angelos, who is said to have reacted angrily to news of the pending trade being leaked. The physical for Jones was immediately called off and Baltimore team president Andy MacPhail denied a deal was close.

"We do not have an agreement with the Mariners," MacPhail told The Baltimore Sun that night.

The following day, Bavasi told the Baltimore paper Jones was pulled from winter ball because he'd "met his goals" and there was no point keeping him in Venezuela.

"The stuff that has been reported is very, very premature," Bavasi said.

Jones took things a step further that same day. Instead of flying to Baltimore for his physical, he was in a holding pattern of sorts in Venezuela. In an e-mail exchange with KOMO 1000 radio reporter Shannon Drayer — the only interview given by Jones since this ordeal erupted — he denied telling the Venezuelan media about the trade.

Back in Venezuela, reporter Cardenas was perusing the Internet, reading denials by both teams that a deal had been close. He worried that his credibility was being questioned.

"The only thing I know is that, if Jones told me that, it was for a reason," Cardenas said via e-mail, offering to play the taped interview for The Times over the phone.

When Drayer later wrote in her online Web log that Jones was denying having talked about the trade, The Times took Cardenas up on his offer. The tape confirmed that Jones had indeed talked of being the centerpiece of a Bedard trade and of heading to Baltimore for a physical.

That information suggested a deal had been in place until the Orioles and Angelos nixed it. Rampant rumors followed, the most far-fetched of which came from Stan Charles, publisher of a sports weekly magazine in Baltimore, who suggested on a local radio show that Jones had a degenerative hip condition.

Even Orioles officials privately shot that one down.

One day later, an MLB.com report said Angelos was secretly negotiating a contract extension with Bedard — something the pitcher's agent, Mark Pieper, vehemently denied.

MacPhail added fuel to the rumor fire by suggesting other teams were still in the mix for Bedard.

But the next day, on Jan. 31, ESPN columnist Buster Olney wrote "a rules issue" arising from the Jones interview was holding up the trade. Because Jones had talked openly about a trade being done, the Orioles were apparently worried they'd be legally bound to proceed with the deal even if the players being sent their way failed a physical.

Angelos is a litigator by trade and known to be highly — some say excessively — vigilant on medical checks. Further reports said he was seeking specific contract language from the Mariners to cover himself.

It wasn't until Sunday that Jones and Sherrill flew to Baltimore from Arizona for their physicals.

The minor-leaguers said to be in the deal — Tillman, Kam Mickolio and Tony Butler — are unlikely to take physicals before any trade. Bedard was reportedly still in his home near Ottawa early Monday afternoon awaiting instructions.

As The Baltimore Sun reported Monday night: "The Orioles are known for having extensive physicals, and it's common for team officials to not get the complete results until a day after the examinations."

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

Read his daily blog at www.seattletimes.com/Mariners