Bedard gets good news on injured shoulder

Mariners starter Erik Bedard received some encouragement for 2009 on Friday when surgery on his pitching shoulder revealed no tears in the labrum or rotator cuff.

Bedard, from Navan, Ont., had a cyst removed from his left shoulder, and had a small amount of tissue cut away from the labrum.

There was concern that the shoulder issues that kept Bedard, 29, on the disabled list since July 10 stemmed from a tear in either the rotator cuff or labrum. Bedard said last week he believed there was a tear.

"The surgery report is very good news," Mariners interim general manager Lee Pelekoudas said in a statement. "There are no structural issues with the shoulder, which should allow for a positive timetable on Erik's full recovery."

Recovery time from the procedure typically is six months. A more precise timetable will be known when Bedard starts rehabilitation.

Friday's was a rare piece of good news in a disastrous year for the Mariners. A popular pick to win the American League West, Seattle (58-101) entered its season-ending series against Oakland with the worst record in baseball.

The first team to lose 100 games with a $100-million US payroll, the Mariners fired general manager Bill Bavasi and field manager John McLaren in mid-June, replacing them with Pelekoudas and Jim Riggleman, respectively.

A report in Thursday's Seattle Times quoted an anonymous "clubhouse insider" as saying several Mariners were unhappy with franchise player Ichiro Suzuki.

Bedard, acquired before the season in a deal that sent promising outfielder Adam Jones to Baltimore, was 6-4 this year with a 3.67 ERA. His major league career record is 46-38 with a 3.81 ERA in five seasons.