Tampa Bay Rays close to deal with pitcher Erik Bedard

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The Tampa Bay Rays are always looking to add cost-effective depth to their roster, even if it’s their minor league roster. This is such as case.

Yep. Erik Bedard could join the Rays on a minor-league deal. As Topkin notes, adding Bedard would add depth, especially in light of news surrounding Jeremy Hellickson and his elbow surgery. Consensus holds that Jake Odorizzi will get first crack at the #5 slot in the Rays rotation.

But if Odorizzi stumbles…

Not sure how hard Bedard would push the youngster. Over Bedard’s last two seasons, he hasn’t exactly fared well. With stops in Pittsburgh and Houston, Bedard is 11-26 with a 4.78 ERA and 1.478 WHIP. His teams were 15-35 in the 50 games in which he started. Not exactly the numbers you want from a starter, are they?

But where Bedard might be effective is out of the Rays bullpen, but even that could be deemed as a long shot at best. The Rays already have a pair of lefties down there with Jake McGee and Cesar Ramos. While both McGee and Ramos had struggles last season, hard to fathom that Bedard could unseat either of them.

And the Rays aren’t lacking for starting depth at the Triple-A level either. Do they ever? Heck, they just added Nate Karns from the Jose Lobaton deal. Toss in Mike Montgomery, Enny Romero, and Alex Colome into the mix, and the odds are slimmed even more. Colome had three starts for the Rays last season. Romero made his debut last season as well, but that was his only appearance.

Good luck to you, Erik Bedard. You’ve got a tall task ahead of you.