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Geoff Baker covers the Mariners for The Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout spring training, and during the season.

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February 4, 2008 3:08 PM

Sherrill in Baltimore; Tillman confirmed in deal

Posted by Geoff Baker

That's what Larry Stone and I have just confirmed as we work the phones this afternoon. In fact, George Sherrill flew out to Baltimore from Phoenix yesterday alongside Adam Jones, the centerpiece of this proposed trade for O's pitcher Erik Bedard. They took their physicals this morning. Sources say that Sherrill is already on a flight back to Arizona. No word yet on whether Jones is on the plane with him.

From what we're hearing, the other players said to be involved in the deal on Seattle's end may not be required by the Orioles to take physicals. (UPDATE 4:03 p.m. -- We've had it confirmed from multiple sources that Chris Tillman is indeed part of the trade package and has been told as much. If all the principals have been notified, it would seem a trade could happen tomorrow if all needed physicals are approved). The Orioles are apparently far more worried about the major league guys since they will be expected to help the big club right away. It appears that Bedard has yet to fly to Seattle. Our take on this? The Mariners probably want to get the "all clear" sign from the Orioles on Jones and Sherrill before bringing Bedard in for a physical. Never know with Peter Angelos running things in Baltimore.

So, what to conclude? No deal today. Probably no deal tomorrow, though there's still a chance (better, since even players not taking physicals have been notified). We keep hearing it may not go down until mid-week or even later. Hey, I hope it's earlier, but we've waited eight days already. What's a few more? Should make our Seattle Times Mariners Blog Fest a real interesting event by the time Thursday rolls around. Wouldn't it be fun if the news conference was a few hours before it? Think of all we'd be able to talk about! We got a big whack of RSVPs from some of you over the weekend and some more today. There are still some spots left if you want to attend. But we are going to cap it at a certain number, to preserve the intimacy and your chances of winning those Mariners tickets.

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