Time has come to deal Bedard, Washburn

Since we’ve got some time during the mid-summer classic break, it’s fun to think about the Mariners making a second-half run at the AL West pennant. They could hold on to pitchers Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn and really make a go of it. However, it’s not so fun to think about what this team would look like next year and possibly years after if they don’t deal both of these guys before the trade deadline.

The M’s have Bedard and Washburn who are pitching lights out in contract years. It’s time to sell high. You know what you have in Bedard: an often injured pitcher who will give you five good innings a game when healthy, but will miss four to six weeks of the season every year. It’s better than a 50-50 chance that he walks after this year, anyway. Next season, Washburn will demand more than the $10.35 million he is getting paid in the final year of his current contract. Sorry, check that. His agent Scott Boras will demand more than the $10.35 million he’s getting paid this season. At age 34, I don’t see how Washburn fits into any long-term plan, especially at that price. And I’m not buying the talk that he’s the next Jamie Moyer.

The fact is this Mariner team is playing about as good as it will ever play and it’s still four games back of an Angels team that’s having a down year. While we’ve been treated to marked improvement from last season’s squad, there are still glaring holes. Assuming injured third baseman Adrian Beltre is gone after this season, the left side of the infield lacks a long-term solution. An argument could be made that second base lacks a long-term solution as well. The catching position is platooned by an overpaid catcher, who the entire pitching staff doesn’t trust (Johjima), and a light-hitting backstop in Rob Johnson who is terrific defensively, but his batting average hovers at .200. And yet again, the Mariners need to find a power-hitting solution in left field.

I doubt that it’s in his DNA, but let’s hope that Jack Zduriencik doesn’t pull a Bill Bavasi and throw big money and long term contracts at players who are having career years. Zduriencik has done a masterful job in his first year and shown a knack for unloading his team’s baggage and getting real value in return. 2009 was billed as a rebuilding year and next year will probably be similar.

Now is the time to stockpile farmhands and draft picks. Prior regimes left the Mariner farm system in shambles and saddled the big club with overpaid players signed to long-term contracts. This won’t be fixed in one season, not unless they want to roll the dice and go after big-money free agents. Unfortunately, we’ve already had a front row seat to see how that strategy plays out. Not well.