Erik Bedard already has some free agent suitors

Bet most of you forgot about this guy, huh? In all of the off-season discussion I've heard about what the Mariners have to do, the name Erik Bedard seldom comes up. That's understandable, given how no one is certain exactly when he'll make it back to a mound in 2010. The Mariners are approaching him as they would any other free agent -- meaning they will exercise plenty of caution before making a bid. They will want to see how Bedard is progressing in his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery and gauge what his true interest level is in returning to the Emerald City. Not the stock quotes given by player and team officials about how much "he loves it here'' but real honest-to-goodness interest in a three-peat with the M's. I'd say the odds are pretty high that Bedard will look to move out of a city where he'll be best remembered for two injury-plagued seasons -- the first of which helped provide the coup de grace on Bill Bavasi's tenure as a...