http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7517774

summary:  Johan won’t allow in-season trade.  So it’s now or never for the twins.

whoops, i should have RTFA, as that’s mentioned in your link as well.  my bad.

Hank and Ca$hman are becoming the ultimate baseball good cop/bad cop.

Cashman was never one who relished talking to the press anyway and usually spoke in vague, cryptic terms when he did.  I wonder whether Hank is really running things, as some claim, or whether decisions are made via consensus (Cashman, Gene Michael, Oppenheimer, Hank etc.) and young Steinbrenner merely is the mouthpiece.

He’s the smokescreen for Cashman’s clever plan to raise an army of trained squirrels and conquer the world.

That squirrel in the stadium last year?

An advanced scout.

I think I’m going to be slightly nervous all day. Mostly because of this 15 page paper I’m writing, but also because of the whole Hughes issue.

Shocker from the Houston Chronicle this morning, or is this just smoke and mirrors?

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5347088.html

Spoiler: Pettitte’s back???

God I hope so.

Please, pleaste Mr. Pettitte… make it so.

Hank is certainly a mouthpiece, most of these things seem like Ca$hman moves.

Walk away Hank!  Please walk away!  *whimpers in corner*

I don’t think that’s a much of a shocker on Pettitte—he’s narrowed his choices to two, so the Chronicle has at least a 50% chance of being right.

I’m kind of wondering just what the Red Sox offer is at this point.  They’ll add Ellsbury but take out Lester.  Fine, but the Twins wouldn’t want Crisp and Ellsbury.  If it’s Ellsbury, Lowrie and Bowden or Masterson, then who’s the fourth player.  Or is it Bowden and Masterson?  That probably would be an upgrade on Lester, Crisp, Lowrie and one of the AA pitchers.  It also probably beats the Yankee offer—the pitching help is further away, but they get MLB-ready SS and CF.  The Twins might even flip Pridie back to Boston for that package.  The Yankees would have to add Marquez and the former attorney general to Hughes and Cabrera to stay competitive, but they shouldn’t have to add Kennedy or Horne unless the Red Sox include both Lester and Ellsbury.

The tone of the Chronicle article is that Pettitte will definitely pitch in 2008 and his agents have informed the Yankees officially that this will be the case.  There doesn’t seem to be much room for doubt.  If I’m Cashman, I would now pull Hughes off the table.  Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Joba and Mussina with IPK, Horne and Marquez waiting in the wings looks rather good to me.  Given the innings limit on Hughes and Joba, perhaps IPK can be their personal long man.  On the other hand, since IPK is primed to throw 200 innings next season, perhaps Hughes should be the long man for a few months.  In any case, the Twins just lost plenty of leverage - especially as Boston doesn’t want to shell out 6/130 for Santana.

By the way, ESPN is also reporting that Pettitte has decided to return.  This is no rumor, boys and girls.

If I’m Cashman, I would now pull Hughes off the table.  Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Joba and Mussina with IPK, Horne and Marquez waiting in the wings looks rather good to me.

OTOH, having another year of Pettitte to bridge you to Horne and Marquez could also be seen as making it easier to trade Hughes without it stinging quite so much, at least in the near term.

Given the innings limit on Hughes and Joba, perhaps IPK can be their personal long man.  On the other hand, since IPK is primed to throw 200 innings next season, perhaps Hughes should be the long man for a few months.

I think your second thought makes more sense here.  There is an excellent chance that Kennedy is the most valuable pitcher of the three in 2008.

i agree that hughes should be pulled from the offer.  I’ll take a slightly less chance of winning in 2008 in exchange for getting to root for young yankees.

Totally agree with IE, pull Hughes from the offer (and watch the Red Sox pull Ellsbury). I wish Pettitte did this on Thursday. Perhaps then the Yankees wouldn’t have felt the need to include Hughes in the Santana sweepstakes on Friday. Either way, great news.

Also, I don’t quite understand how the Twins can value Ellsbury over Hughes.  The former is an .800 OPS player and valuable but not compared to a potential no 1 or even no 2 starter who will be 22 in 2008.  That just seems like a ploy to get the Yanks to add more to the deal.  Supposedly, the Twins are unsatisfied with Hughes, Melky and prospect x - which is fine by me.

Also, I don’t quite understand how the Twins can value Ellsbury over Hughes.  The former is an .800 OPS player and valuable but not compared to a potential no 1 or even no 2 starter who will be 22 in 2008.

Ceiling vs. likelihood of reaching that ceiling?  Ellsbury may not have the upside of Hughes, but he fills a need on the team, probably a bigger one than what Hughes would fill, and he’s far more certain to achieve a certain level of performance.  Add in the health risks inherent in pitchers and Hughes already having exhibited some durability issues, and it’s perfectly logical to see why Minnesota may value Ellsbury over Hughes.

Also, I don’t quite understand how the Twins can value Ellsbury over Hughes.  The former is an .800 OPS player and valuable but not compared to a potential no 1 or even no 2 starter who will be 22 in 2008.

I read somewhere that the Twins have a number of young pitchers in their own system. Sorta tips the balance toward everyday players.

I read somewhere that the Twins have a number of young pitchers in their own system. Sorta tips the balance toward everyday players.

It would be kinda dumb to take less total value because of positional needs.  They can always turn around and trade young pitchers for position players.  Garza for Young and Harris filled a couple of holes in their lineup.

With Pettite back, I think Hughes is the expendable part but Melky becomes the bitch to replace.

It’s not that I want hughes or Melky gone, but I don’t want Hankenstein signing Rowand to 5/75 just because he’s the best guy out there right now. In two years, he’ll just be a 38yo Bernie offensively with a bit more range.

Also, if the Sox package is centered around Ellsburg with his 25ish ML playing days, there is no need to give up so much talent. Maybe the new deal is Melky plus Horne and TBD.