Which is to say: Black is white in the Yankee-verse, and vice versa.
Brian Cashman either has giant balls of steel or equally enormous rocks in his head. The Twins conceded in not including Kennedy in the proposed deal, and the Cash-man walked away for fear of Santana’s price tag.
To repeat: The Yankees have decided not to trade prospects and killed the trade because of cost.
Dizzy yet?
From Bill Madden in today’s NY Daily News:
The Yankee GM, who is staking his job on his young-gun pitchers, has walked away from a 4-for-1 trade of players the Twins were agreeable to for Johan Santana at the winter meetings that included Hughes, but not Ian Kennedy (as Minnesota initially requested) or any of the Bombers’ other top prospects. By doing so, Cashman has apparently handed one of the best young pitchers in baseball to the Red Sox for a parcel of prospects that is also likely to be a far cry from the Twins’ original asking price for their premier lefthander.
But it is more than just Cashman’s belief in Hughes that suddenly put the Yankees in full retreat after Hank Steinbrenner had sounded the “Charge!” on Santana. Believe it or not, the final decision not to go through with a deal that was on the table – one that would have sacrificed Hughes, Melky Cabrera, 23-year-old Double-A righthander Jeff Marquez and 22-year-old A-ball third baseman Mitch Hilligoss – was based on money.
Adding Santana would have meant that the Yankees would have committed to half-a-billion dollars in salary this winter — dough that left Cash cold. Madden points out that $80 million comes off the Yankees books after 2008 in the form of Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Mussina, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi. But the bottom line is that Cashman never wanted to trade Hughes, whom he envisions as the next Johan Santana.
Balls or rocks.
December 5th, 2007
It’s not only the power structure in the AL East that has changed this year, it’s the Yankees acting as if they cannot commit money to players that a few years ago would’ve been considered a given while the Sox charge ahead as if money grows on the Green Monster (it does, Ben Afleck told me so).
You’re right though – balls or rocks. Balls or rocks.
December 5th, 2007
This is what I should expect from a friend of Scott’s. The Madden piece is complete hogwash just meant to take up newspaper space. He emphatically states it’s because of money. Specifically Madden says signing Pettitte to a one year 16 million dollar deal crossed some magical payroll line that brought us out of the running for Pettitte. Madden realizes though that this is absurd so he backs off later saying that it was also because Santana would add 20 million to the payroll. Then he backs off further saying it was just because he didn’t want to trade Hughes.
At the end of the day this is a CYA article where Madden gets to say he’s right no matter what the outcome is. It leads with a risky and sensational premise to get your attention and get it talked about but then hedges that risky premise so that later he can easily back out of it.
December 5th, 2007
“running for Pettitte” should be “running for Santana” in the above.