Everyone breath a sign of relief. Take in that nice, big gulp of air and let it out slowly. According to Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees will not at all be trading anyone approaching the quality of Phil Hughes for Dan Haren.
Phew. Once again, we here at RAB look good.
In a press conference following the Yankees’ decision to drop out of the Johan Santana farce sweepstakes, Hank was pretty clear in expressing the Yanks’ views on Haren and A’s GM Billy Beane’s demand for his overvalued pitcher. Newsday’s Kat O’Brien reports:
As for Haren, a 27-year-old righthander who was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA this season, Steinbrenner stomped on the idea of the Yankees acquiring him. Oakland general manager Billy Beane has told teams he would need to be blown away to deal Haren. He would want a similar haul from the Yankees as the Twins asked for in exchange for Santana.
Steinbrenner called that price “ridiculous” and vowed: “It won’t happen, not with us.”
While Hank has come under some criticism for possibly saying too much too often, this is music to my ears. Haren, as I wrote yesterday, comes with a little too much hype and just one season of clear-cut, top-notch pitching. Until he duplicates his 2007 numbers, Haren shouldn’t be considered an ace, and he’s definitely not worth any combination of Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy or Austin Jackson (as Rotoworld speculates the A’s would demand).
Sanity reigns supreme with this one, and this measure of common sense assuages my fears that if the Red Sox land Santana — and it’s far from the done deal — that the Yankees would respond by grossly overpaying for Haren.
Meanwhile, if you want to love Phil Hughes more than you do now, read this tidbit from PeteAbe. Phil knows he has the backing of the fan base. I wonder if he’s talking about us and those t-shirts.
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