Thanks. So, quick change in plans for the Yankees, then.

Understood about badmouthing – but Jim Palmer really doesn’t fall into the trap of happy-talk. He regularly kills O’s pitchers when the circumstances require it.

I respect his opinion – and nothing was keeping him from saying no comment to a writer from Seattle or declining the interview.

That said – if Bedard is a cancer in the clubhouse – you have to balance that against the players in the clubhouse who might deal with that. i have some confidence in those folks to make sure the team operates effectively.

Circumstances changed. At the time of the Santana deal, the Yankees saw Hughes as a guy who would pitch 150-180 innings this year and win 12-13 games.

Instead, he got hurt and its another lost season for him.

Add to it the Wang injury and its a big problem for the Yankees.

It doesn’t just impact the Yankees for this year. It also impacts them next year.

The chances are slim both Mussina and Pettitte will be back. Hughes won’t be able to throw a lot of innings next year, and Chamberlain will only go to about 170-180 innings.

Who eats innings next year? Its a big question.

If its the off-season, it just costs money for CC. Much different than money and players for Santana.

Also, with all the money coming off the books after the season, they can fit CC’s contract in for a lot less than the 28 million (what a Santana contract would have cost the Yankees this year. Which includes the luxury tax hit they would have taken on the deal) Santana would have cost the Yankees this season.

Sorry that I’m whining.

Nobody will go on the record badmouthing players publicly. How many guys do you see get badmouthed publicly? It never happens unless you have major power in the game. Leo Mazzone, while a good pitching coach, doesn’t have the cache to badmouth anybody publicly.

Hyperbole is something all broadcasters use. How can he be “like Steve Carlton” when he has never even pitched 200 innings in a season?

Put it another way. You think the Orioles want Bedard back?

Andy McPhail raped the Mariners on that deal and that’s one of the reasons why the guy is back on the block.

Think about it, they traded some of their best minor league talent for a guy to go alongside King Felix.

Seattle is a franchise with a ton of money. They can afford to re-sign Bedard. Yet, they are looking to move him again.

He’s bad news and I would be shocked if the Yankees even thought about getting involved in that action.

I’d also be interested in Burnett. I think Toronto really, really doesn’t want to help the Yankees though, even if they are out of it. They might do it anyway for the right price, but that price would probably be jacked up since it is within the division.

However I think Burnett would waive his NTC to come here if he has one. He has had some problems with Ricciardi over the years and I think he’d love nothing more than to stick it to him by pitching well for a division rival. If he did opt out of his contract after the season I could def. see him as a Yankee if the cost for CC is prohibitive.