O'Flaherty to Minors; Dickey to MLB

There were rumors of this last night, and now it's official. Seattle sent struggling reliever Eric O'Flaherty to the minors and recalled knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Geoff Baker reports that O'Flaherty was optioned to AAA Tacoma, though USS Mariner says he's heading to AA West Tennessee. As I've mentioned before, this won't be a permanent fix.

Seattle's bullpen, as it stands now:

Mark Lowe, R
Sean Green, R
Roy Corcoran, R
Ryan Rowland-Smith, L
Cha-Seung Baek, R
R.A. Dickey, R

Seattle will want another lefty in there sooner than later, whether it is Cesar Jimenez, a healthy Arthur Rhodes or a mentally rehabbed Eric O'Flaherty, so someone will have to go. Having two long relievers is pointless, so either Baek will be traded or waived or Dickey will be sent back to AAA. This decision is for another day, and I assume it will be determined by how effective Dickey is. Baek hasn't pitched well in relief after a stellar spring, and Seattle may finally be willing to cut ties with him if Dickey does his job better.

GM Bill Bavasi should have traded Baek right after Spring Training while his value was relatively high.

Note (11:18 am PST) - If Baek and Dickey hang around the roster for longer than expected, I would have to say it's an obvious indication that Erik Bedard is gearing up for his first DL stint as a Mariner. Emphasis on first.