"Can we talk about this?"
(Friend of TYU) Evan Roberts broke a bit of news with SI’s Jon Heyman this morning on his radio show when discussing the Yankee plans for the rotation had the Cliff Lee deal went through. I transcribed it, so here’s the link to listen for yourself and here it is to read in it’s full context:
Evan Roberts-“Obviously Cliff Lee is an elite pitcher, he’s one of the best pitchers in the sport right now, that’s how good he is. So you can understand why the Yankees would want him. But what was the plan if they pulled this off? Was Javy Vazquez going to be turned around and traded right away?”
Jon Heyman-“No. As it turns out, from what I’m hearing and I’ve talked to a few people today as well, they were going to use Hughes in the bullpen, even though he’s been an All-Star as a starter. Their plan was to have excess, to give Hughes some extra breathing room, and see how it went there. And I don’t think that’s a bad plan. If you have Cliff Lee, and you’ve got Sabathia, and you’ve got all these pitchers, you strengthen your bullpen, I think it’s not a bad idea. “
Evan Roberts-“Wow, that’s incredible. “
They went on to discuss whether or not that would mess him up, like some people think it did with Joba. But Heyman dismissed the idea as “illogical”, and I would agree with him there.
We all know the Yanks operate differently than any other team, but this just goes to show how there was absolutely no need for Lee on this team, since the next move would be to send an All Star starter to the bullpen. I’m sorry, but this would-be trade makes less and less sense with every additional detail that comes out about it. Why not just make a much cheaper deal for a reliever, keep Montero and leave Hughes where he is? And still get Lee next year as a free agent.
UPDATE 8:32 PM-Andrew Marchand of ESPN-NY had a similar take, but was much less definitive than Heyman. Girardi and Eiland denied it, but Phil was quoted as saying this:
“I figured I might go to the bullpen, but I’ve done that before,” Hughes said after the Yankees’ 6-1 victory over the Mariners, which extended their season-best winning streak to seven games.”
(h/t to Nathan @ RAB for the heads up)
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11 Responses to Hughes would have moved to the pen
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TIQ IQ
I didn’t like the deal from the start, mainly because I viewed it as a pure display of excess and greed. Anyway, maybe they wanted to make the move because the felt that pretty soon Hughes would hit his innings limit? I’m not really buying the 175 innings list that’s floating around, I always thought it to be much lower.
That’s not it. Hughes is currently at 101 IP, they wanted him to have somewhere between 160-180 this year. When he gets around 150, I could see moving him to the pen. But that shouldn’t happen until the end of August at the earliest.
Not a bad idea at all, to let Hughes step back, refocus, and save 40 innings for the wars of autumn. Strengtens the bullpen by more than a worthy arm, as his leadership is a force multiplier.
After Joba’s wonderful 8th inning tonight, it sounds like a outstanding plan.
After Joba’s 8th inning last night, ANYTHING sounds like a outstanding plan.
Hughes would probably been great in the 8th inning job (currently vacant).
Speaking of Joba, I can’t recall a guy being so overrated in the last couple decades. This is the same guy that was robbed of the 5th starter job this spring because it wasn’t a fair competition.
Joba had too much success too soon, and the Yanks have been trying to keep him motivated ever since. It gets old, letting him ride the buses in Scranton might be the wake up call he needs. The Tigers sent Porcello down, the Yanks should do the same with Justin.
Joba needs to be sent to the minors to be rebuilt. People keep ignoring that he just hasn’t been the same since the injury. They need to figure this out. Ignoring this fact does no good.
I agree. It’s not just a slump at this point, he’s pitched like crap since August of last year.
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I certainly would not take this at face value. I think had the trade gone through the Yankees would have most likely shopped Vazquez and kept Hughes in the rotation. Of course they are not going to say that now that the trade didn’t go through.