Some interesting notes from the Seattle papers today:

1) Jarrod Washburn, who lives 90 minutes from the Twin Cities, in Danbury, Wis., would have loved to pitch for the Twins.

“It would have been ideal,” he told the Seattle Times. “It would have been perfect. I would have gotten to go to a place that’s contending, and it’s in my own backyard.”

Washburn could be placed on waivers again, but 30 days must pass, so it would be after the Aug. 31 deadline to set playoff rosters. In other words, probably won’t happen.

2) The M’s did not turn down an offer of Boof Bonser for Washburn, contrary to the indications I was given Thursday. An M’s official told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer they “would have jumped at it,” if Bonser had been offered.

Nick Blackburn’s name did come up but was pulled early, both papers reported.

3) The Time’s Larry Stone received indications the M’s were willing to pay part of Washburn’s salary to help get a better player.

“In general, on the issue of dumping salaries, our goal here is to get better,” M’s GM Lee Pelekoudas told the Times. “Even back to the trade deadline, and moving forward, we want to get players back that will make us better now and in the future.

“Money can give you flexibility, but there’s no guarantee you can turn that flexibility into anything.”

Clearer picture, same simple facts

Knowing this and knowing what I was told Thursday, the teams appeared to reach a stalemate with the M’s insisting they would only relinquish Washburn if they received talent (read Blackburn, Bonser, etc.) in return.

The amount of Washburn’s contract the M’s were willing to eat would have increased, presumably, depending on the caliber of player the Twins sent back.

Bottom line: By placing that waiver claim this week, the Twins were willing to take on Washburn’s entire contract — $13 million through the end of 2009 for a 34-year-old lefty who is 5-12 with a 4.58 ERA — and the M’s walked away from the chance.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 9:35 am and is filed under Around MLB, Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.