Bedard is Popular, Rumors, Corey Patterson

Seems that on day two of the winter meetings, the Orioles have been courted much like the pretty girl at the high school dance.

Well, if you all have not noticed, Erik Bedard is in demand...

Here are the latest rumors:

From Fox Sports: "The Orioles, among the busiest talkers at these meetings, continue to signal that they are trying to trade catcher Ramon Hernandez. They are interested in Michael Barrett as a free agent and want either Jeff Mathis or Mike Napoli as well as pitching if they trade shortstop Miguel Tejada to the Angels, according to sources."

From Fox Sports: "The Blue Jays are willing to trade outfielder Alex Rios in a deal for a premium starting pitcher and have talked to the Giants about Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. The Giants are reluctant to move either pitcher, but would consider a hitter such as Rios, who is three years away from free agency.

If the Jays traded Rios, they likely would go with Adam Lind in left field and a platoon of Reed Johnson and Matt Stairs in right. Some Jays officials believe that Lind would bat .270 with 20-25 home runs if he were given 500 at-bats.

The chances of the Jays trading for Orioles left-hander Erik Bedard, a native of Canada, are extremely remote. The Orioles are unlikely to trade Bedard within the division, and the Jays cannot offer a strong enough package of prospects for the pitcher."

From the NY Post: "The Yankees are not in play for Erik Bedard, and the Mets' chances to land the Orioles ace are perhaps no better than bleak.

In fact, the Dodgers are widely perceived as the frontrunner for Bedard. And that is not hard to fathom. Their new manager, Joe Torre, watched Bedard go 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three starts against his Yankees last year with 21 strikeouts in 21 innings.

Mostly, though, it is because the Dodgers fit best with what new Orioles GM Andy MacPhail is trying to do. MacPhail, according to people who have spoken with him, has advised his owner, Peter Angelos, that the club is so far behind the powers in the AL East that it will take until 2010 at the earliest to contend.

So in exchange for Bedard, the Orioles are asking clubs for players with little or no major league service time so they can build toward 2010 with a young, controllable group."

From ESPN's Winter Meetings Blog: The Mets offered Aaron Heilman, Carlos Gomez and Philip Humber for Erik Bedard.

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For all you who love Corey Patterson, he most likely isn't coming back to Baltimore.