Assesing the Bedard Trade; Part VI

Time for our final assesment of the Erik Bedard trade. The rest of the assesments can be seen in these links; Part I, Part II, Part III, Part VI, and Part V. The final analysis will be on the biggest name in the trade, Erik Bedard.

I can't really do this assesment like I did four of the previous five, because Bedard is not a prospect. But anyways... In three MLB seasons, Bedard has not been able to get over the 200 inning mountain. In 2005,'06, and '07, he had 141.2, 196.1, and 182 innings pitched respectively. I guess you can and you can't call 196 IP a 200 season. It's almost there, but that's what my feeling on Bedard is, he's a pitcher that is almost ready to be a greater pitcher. A solid Mariners team may be able to get him over that hump. His stats in 2007 where remarkable; in 182 IP, he had 221 K's (franchise record), a 13-5 record, and gave up less than a HR per nine, and only a 1.09 WHIP. Pretty good numbers to me. His 2006 season, wasn't bad. 15-11, 3.76 ERA, 171 K's. Again, not bad. For you fantasy geeks, including myself, here is what CBSSports says about Bedard:

Bedard went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA last year and was third in the AL in strikeouts (221) while allowing a league-low 6.97 hits per nine innings. A move to a contender in Seattle will make Bedard a potential 17-game winner and solidify his spot among the top 10 starting pitchers in Fantasy Baseball. It was harder to trust a Fantasy ace on a bad team like the O's.

Now for my take on Bedard. Erik Bedard is a great Canadian pitcher, with amazing skills. He has the ability to be an ace pitcher. He won't have the pressure of 'ace' as King Felix is number two, and the three other pitchers, Washburn, Batista, and Silva, make up a solid rotation. Not to mention that Seattle has a better lineup and team behind Bedard than Baltimore had. Bedard should become a 17-20 win pitcher with an ERA of around 2.50-3.00 with over 200 K's. If he can get over that 200 inning mark, he will finally get that load off of his shoulders. Bedard needs one more great season to become a true ace. A Cy Young, or a couple playoff victories could help out his case.