Bedard: The Day After; The Rundown & the Blogosphere...

Well, morning everyone. Considering everything that has gone down in the past two weeks, Friday was definitely a great day for the Baltimore organization. As we know, the two teams closed the deal, sending outfielder Adam Jones, left-handed reliever George Sherrill and three minor league pitching prospects -- Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio -- to the Orioles in exchange for Erik Bedard.

While there are some people who really dislike the trade for the fact we traded a good pitcher like Erik Bedard, I'll say this -- anytime you can trade one guy for five, especially in the state the Orioles are currently in - you do it.

Yes, the team is sadly sacrificing talent for the road ahead, especially in giving up Bedard; however, this move is about the future and not the here and now. Obviously, the Mariners needed to get Bedard to compete in a tough AL West with the Angels.

A lot of people have argued with me about the merits of trading an ace, but the bottom line is that the Orioles were not going to contend anytime soon and you have to maximize your return from a commodity. However, for the most part, most of the fans see the forest from the trees and are hoping for the best.

Well, the good thing is that we'll get to see guys -- young guys -- hopefully become into household names in the Baltimore area. Folks, we have talent under our control for several years. Let's sit back, enjoy, and analyze what's to come.

Right now, MacPhail has done the incredible -- getting 10 players for 2. At this point, the Orioles are just hoarding talent, stocking up for the future and trying to build around a core of young guys. After all this time, as my friend Tony would say about the Orioles, "this team has no vision"; however, now with MacPhail in the driver's seat, they do.

Meanwhile, Erik Bedard seems to be nothing but happy with the trade. He held a press conference with the Seattle scribes yesterday, and while he didn't say anything disparaging about Baltimore, he stated in black and white what the team's problems were:

"With Baltimore, it seems like you were backwards. When I first got there, they were signing players and trying to compete with Boston and New York. Then it went downhill. I'm glad to be here," Bedard said.

Though it should pain fans to hear this, it's nothing but the truth. I know we want our guys to stay loyal and love where they play; however, the bottom line is that any professional athlete wants to win, and if they have the chance to go to a winning team, they'll bolt.

More importantly, he's out of a tough AL East, and now is on a contender.

Here's what he said about being a key pitcher on Seattle's staff:

In typical Bedard fashion, he was understated and said he didn't care whether he or Hernandez was called the Mariners' ace.

"He was here first. I don't see why I should take his place. I don't care if I'm No. 1 or No. 5, just as long as I don't get skipped in the rotation," Bedard said, adding: "This is a great feeling. It's never fun to be on a team that's rebuilding. Here they're looking to win."

Good for him. I'll always like Erik for the way he's pitched on the mound and with my interactions with him despite what's been said in the media.

Of course, let's hope he doesn't turn into Koufax or a Carlton.

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The Baltimore Sun has video of the Andy MacPhail press conference, and the Wayward O has his interpretation of his words. Pressbox Online & Orioles.com has more on the deal.

The Mariners.com give their spin, as does the Seattle Times, & Larry Stone of the Times details how the deal got done.

Oriole Central, Camden Chat & Orioles Hangout give us more details on the move. HRB of Dempsey's Army, Jon Wilt of Orioles Hangout, and James Baker of Oriole Magic go over the players the team received in the deal.

The Sun's Roch Kubatko analyzes the deal; Peter Schmuck believes the move was needed, as most realize.