World Best Sports

Despite shoulder surgeries and disappointment in Seattle during each of the last two seasons, free-agent left-hander Erik Bedard is coming back to the Mariners. General manager Jack Zduriencik announced Saturday the team and the oft-injured 30-year-old agreed to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2011.

The contract is expected to have a base salary a fraction of the $7.75 million Bedard made last season. It includes incentive clauses, the exact value of which were not immediately known.

He is rehabilitating with a physical therapist in his native Canada following surgery in August to repair a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. Last week, Mariners trainer Rick Griffin said the normal recovery time for the procedure is 10-12 months. That would have Bedard making his season debut in June at the earliest.

"He has a ways to go," said Griffin, who has been overseeing Bedard's rehabilitation from afar because the team had been financially responsible for it while he was a free agent.

Zduriencik thinks this latest, low-cost move that caps Seattle's splashy winter could pay off handsomely — if Bedard can get and stay healthy.
"We think Erik is an important piece for us to add," Zduriencik said. "We're confident he'll be ready to pitch (in) major league games this season.

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