Hot Stove Musings

One off-season trade strikes me as a win-win proposition, a concept you don't see in team sports very much. After all, baseball teams are at least indirect competitors and often direct competitors. It's as if two countries fought a war and were both better off in the end.

It's the Orioles-Mariners blockbuster centering around fireballer Erik Bedard. Bedard was a Cy Young contender until he got hurt last season, but keeping him in Baltimore for two years of rebuilding would be like installing mag wheels on a rusting pickup.

Instead, the O's peddled Bedard for a prospect haul to a team that thinks it's in a pennant race. They get back outfielder Adam Jones and four minor league pitchers, at least a couple of whom are highly regarded. Now, I know less about minor league pitching prospects than I know about 15th century Hungarian love songs, but the way to develop a front-line major league pitcher is to have 10 good minor league pitching prospects.

Moreover, the O's get a breakout-ready outfielder for six years of below-market cost who should be entering his prime in synch with the rest of the organization.

The Mariners give up nothing from today's lineup and reap a staff ace who, linked with the emerging Felix Hernandez and a couple of mid-line starters in Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva, fronts a formidable mound corps in the Northwest.

The question is whether the Mariners sacrificed part of their future for a present that doesn't exist. Is Seattle really a contender in the AL West, even with Bedard? Look at their lineup: Beyond Ichiro, Beltre and the smoldering ruins of Richie Sexson, there isn't a single tough out. It'll be interesting to see whether pitching and good defense without run support can keep pace with the Anaheim Armada.

The best and worst signings of the year might have both been the work of the Milwaukee Brewers. Inking Mike Cameron to patrol centerfield once his steroid suspension ends dramatically upgrades the team. It moves Bill Hall to third and "The Bratwurst Butcher," Ryan Braun, to leftfield.

As a centerfielder, Hall was a fine third baseman. As a third baseman, Braun was a fine plumbing supply salesman. The NL Rookie of the Year will still turn left into Frankie's Fun Park, but hell, it's only left. The more important defensive positions of center and third will be in far, far better hands. The Beermakers' pitchers should benefit.

But not enough to justify exporting 10 million Loonies to Quebec for the right to get whiplash watching some guy who used to be Eric Gagne surrender gopher balls. Last year Francisco Cordero recorded 44 saves and an ERA of three for the Brewers. A reasonable prediction for Gagne is the reverse -- three saves and a 44 ERA before Derrick Turnbow gets his turn. The Brewers could have bought the entire Pirates roster for that much coin, thrown away the entire team and gotten more value from either Ian Snell or Tom Gorzelany alone.

Fortunately for the Brewers, the NL Central is a wasteland. It's them and the Cubs and run for the pubs in that division.