According to a recent blog post by Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times, Mariners outfielder Adam Jones has been told by Seattle to stop playing in the Venezuelan Winter League championship and to report back to the United States.

Here's part of the post:

"Adam Jones has left his Venezuelan Winter League team and flies to Baltimore tomorrow morning to take a physical so he can be dealt to the Orioles in exchange for pitcher Erik Bedard. No word yet on how many players going Baltimore's way."

According to Baker, Jones says that he was told to head to Baltimore tomorrow for a physical. The post also mentions that Baker spoke with Mariners relief pitcher George Sherrill and that Sherrill had not been told if he was included in a pending deal.

A recent update to the blog post says that Mariners spokesman Tim Hevley has confirmed that Jones has been asked to return to the U.S. According to Baker, Hevley refused to comment further. According to the update, Jones' manager in the winter leagues, former major-leaguer Luis Sojo, also confirmed that Jones was indeed headed to Baltimore for a physical.

Obviously, this has big implications in my previous post about the fantasy rankings for starting pitchers. If Bedard is traded to Seattle, then he could move up in the fantasy rankings. In Seattle, he would have a better offense and he would also not be facing the powerful offenses in the American League East as much.

Note: When reading the blog post from The Seattle Times, please remember that there is a three-hour time difference.