I will resist the urge to post to the Pioneer Press for a third day in a row. But I will keep the Minnesota bias going.
If I were MN GM Bill Smith, I think I have a plan for what I would do. I would send out word that final, sealed bids for Johan are due on Sunday evening at 8:00PM. A couple of things, I think, would make this plan work incredibly well.
You already have the attention of NY – just take a peak at the NY headlines. And most of the writers are saying NY should go for it. Of course they also want to trade Andy Philips and Chase Wright for Johan, but that is a different story.
As we saw last winter, the power of the final, sealed bid can lead to unexpected things. When the Dice-K story first hit, baseball types were talking about how the posting fee would blow away the Ichiro bid. They were talking numbers as high as $20, 25MM. Maybe even $30MM. but the Mets did something like $35MM and we know where the Sox ended up. I think this could be the same thing. The interested parties all know what MN wants, so the sealed bids could work. And you can see the FO/GM/Owners sitting around saying “well we know Boston will include 4 guys, one guy with X skills, another with Y…., so we NEED to include our four guys, two of which are regarded more highly than the Boston guys.” And the next thing you know, as an example, Theo has now talked himself into including Ellsbury and Bucholz b/c he is convinced NY will include Melky and Joba (not saying this IS going to happen, just using as an example.)
And really, this does not have to be a *final* sealed bid. They can always go back one more time and try to tweak the offers. We already know Hank’s final word really does not mean much.
The high stakes poker game between Theo and Cashman takes another turn as the Yankees re-raise the pot by throwing in Hughes. The Sox have an upper-hand with an afternoon meeting, but Elsbury is not on the table. Did Theo raise the stakes to make the Yankees overpay? Will the Twins opt for Hughes? Or will the Mets sneak in at the last minute?
ReplyDeleteThe Mets don't really have the prospects to match - especially pitching. And w/ Garza going to TB, MN needs a pitcher or two.
ReplyDeleteI see it possibly being that the Sox add Bucholz or Ellsbury and then NY adds future HOF'er Joba.
I'm with IBID on this. Neither Theo nor Cashman are too excited about get tingrid of their top young talent. There's one massive difference between the two: Cashman can get overruled by the Steinbrenners. Theo might be simply angling to get Joba thrown in (Hughes was considered untouchable until a couple days later), and may not offer a serious counteroffer after that.
ReplyDeleteAlso: for all this talk of the Yanks and Sox, I've yet to hear a convincing explanation for why the Twins must deal the guy. I mean, it makes sense - such a trade could do amazing things for them in 2010-11 or so, but their backs are hardly against the wall.
I agree that MN could make a strong case for keeping him, as well. Liriano comes back strong (a big iff, but still) and they have a nasty 1-2 punch. and they can always trade him at the deadline if they are out of it. And with them going to a new stadium, they could sign him if they wanted.
ReplyDeleteSo now NY is saying they may pull out so that they are not shopped against Boston. well, its Hal saying that. Pretty funny.
"I'm not going to be played against the Red Sox. That's not something I'll do. That's not something the Yankees should ever do, and that's I think what they're trying to do now," Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Sunday. "So if they want the best offer that has been offered to them, then they need to make up their minds."
This from the same guy who said if A-Rod opted out, then the Yanks were done talking to him. Right before he gave A-Rod the biggest contract in the history of professional sports. Bill Smith must be really worried that the Yankees might pull out of discussions.
Hah.. I should have read this post before I commented!
ReplyDeleteThe Yankees said they would "pull out"... huh.. huh... "Pull out"
Sorry I just had to go there.