According to Larry LaRue and various other outlets, Adrian Beltre should be good to go as soon as he’s eligible to return from the DL, and Erik Bedard’s exploratory surgery revealed a torn labrum.  He’ll be out for 4-6 months.

The news on Beltre is obviously very encouraging, both for Mariner fans and Beltre’s right testical (and fans of Beltre’s right testical, I suppose).

Bedard will likely have to wait until Spring Training before finding a team.  The Mariners would be crazy to offer arbitration at this point, so Seattle will get nothing in return should Bedard sign elsewhere.

A torn labrum is not something that is easy to come back from.  There is a chance that this is the beginning of the end for a once promising career, but only time will tell.

Seattle’s starting rotation for 2010 is pretty full, but the team could look to bring Bedard back on a cheap deal.  I’d think that he may like the idea of working with the same team doctors and trainers as he works his way back, but perhaps not.

Personally, I don’t really care if Bedard returns or not.  If he signs elsewhere, at least we can stop hearing (or at least hear less) about the deal that sent away two key components of the Mariners (now the Orioles) future.  If he comes back on the cheap, we might get an elite arm for a few games, which can’t be a bad thing.

In other news, Prospect Insider’s Jason A. Churchill is reporting that Phillippe Aumont is suffering from a degenerative hip condition, which is the real reason why he’s been moved to the bullpen.  This probably isn’t much of a surprise to those who have seen Aumont’s mechanics, but it’s good to know that the organization had a better motive for taking him out of the rotation than “we think he’s better as a reliever.”

Are hip injuries in vogue or what?  Click through for more information from Jason.