The issue that seems to have agitated the populace over at the big boat Mariner isn’t whether Seattle will land Erik Bedard but why the team didn’t offer salary arbitration to outfielder Jose Guillen.

If they had, the argument goes, they’d have picked up a supplemental draft pick when the Kansas City Royals signed Guillen in the wee hours Tuesday morning.

The online concensus: GM Bill Bavasi and his staff are all boneheads.

Why else wouldn’t they offer Guillen arbitration? Simple, they suspected he’d take them up on it – and there’s evidence he would have.

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The first of the two reasons is the simplest – no one wants him.

Richie Sexson and his $14 million contract haven’t drawn a bit of interest this fall, nor at these winter meetings. At least not unless the Seattle Mariners are willing to eat that contract.

Oh, there have been rumors floated – Sexson to San Francisco for Ray Durham, for instance. Problem is, talk to the other team supposedly involved, the rumors turn out to be false.

Giants GM Brian Sabean insists Sexson was "never" on his radar.

It’s a story told over and

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The Mariners officially acknowledged they were out of the run for Johan Santana, and turned their attention to another coveted pitcher – Baltimore’s Erik Bedard.

Bedard isn’t nearly the marquee name Santana is, but he’s a 29-year-old left-hander with a 40-35 record and a 3.83 lifetime earned run average. Unfortuantely for Seattle, he’s hardly a secret.

Among the teams already pursuing Bedard are the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, and the team that finishes second in the Santana derby is almost certain to join this fray.

As with Santana, Bedard will come dear – Orioles

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The Johan Santana Block Party – also known as basebal’s winter meetings – is a once-in-a-generation event, a chance for any team who wants a two-time Cy Young Award Winner in his prime to make an offer the Minnesota Twins can’t refuse.

If the Seattle Mariners could, it wouldn’t matter.

They can’t, so they lose out in the Santana Derby no matter how well-intentioned general manager Bill Bavasi is.

What the Twins want is ready-for-the-majors starting pitching, and about the best offer Seattle can make is one that includes outfielder Adam Jones, pitcher Brandon Morrow and catcher

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