Brian Cashman, Yanks balk at millions and Phil Hughes for Johan Santana

Brian Cashman, Yanks balk at millions and Phil Hughes for Johan Santana
現金人對於要多花大把鈔票以及犧牲Hughes來換取Santana而感到猶豫不決

Wednesday, December 5th 2007, 4:00 AM

NASHVILLE - Even though George Steinbrenner is no longer the one to say it, Brian Cashman had better be right about Phil Hughes.

即使大老闆已經不再是決定一切的那一個人，現金人最好還是好好處理有關Phil Hughes的交易。

The Yankee GM, who is staking his job on his young-gun pitchers, has walked away from a 4-for-1 trade of players the Twins were agreeable to for Johan Santana at the winter meetings that included Hughes, but not Ian Kennedy (as Minnesota initially requested) or any of the Bombers' other top prospects. By doing so, Cashman has apparently handed one of the best young pitchers in baseball to the Red Sox for a parcel of prospects that is also likely to be a far cry from the Twins' original asking price for their premier lefthander.
洋基總經理，冒著丟掉飯碗處理這群年輕且具有潛力的投手們的交易，在冬季會議上，剛從一個雙城可能會同意的交易案中脫身，這是個四換一的交易，洋基提供Hughes（但沒有雙城一開始要求的Ian Kennedy）或者任何一個農場的頂級新秀。這樣的交易，現金人很明顯的交出了一個最好的年輕投手，如同雙城為了他們當家左投向紅襪開價而渴求得到的年輕好手一樣。

But it is more than just Cashman's belief in Hughes that suddenly put the Yankees in full retreat after Hank Steinbrenner had sounded the "Charge!" on Santana. Believe it or not, the final decision not to go through with a deal that was on the table - one that would have sacrificed Hughes, Melky Cabrera, 23-year-old Double-A righthander Jeff Marquez and 22-year-old A-ball third baseman Mitch Hilligoss - was based on money.
洋基突然決定收手並不完全是因為現金人對Hughes的信任，而是小老闆在聽到Santana所要求的年薪之後。不管你相不相信，最後決定不進行這個將會犧牲Hughes、Melky Cabrera、23歲的2A右投Jeff Marquez和22歲的3壘手Mitch Hilligoss的交易，是因為錢的關係。

Once Andy Pettitte announced he was returning to the fold for $16 million, it meant the Yankees had committed $408.4 million this winter to retain six players. The acquisition of Santana would have meant tacking on another $125 million to that figure, and Cashman, who never wanted to do the Santana deal in the first place, blanched at the prospect of adding another $20 million to a payroll that was already on the cusp of $200 million, again. In this respect, the timing of Pettitte's decision to return - while initially seen as giving the Yankees additional leverage in their dealings with the Twins on Santana - actually gave Cashman the "out" he needed.
由於帥派說了他將會回洋基效力，年薪是1600萬美金，這表示洋基這個冬天必須支付4億零840萬美金來留下6位球員。為了尋求Santana的加入，洋基可能還要再多付出1億2500萬左右的薪資，而一開始就不打算做成Santana這筆交易的現金人，聽到還要再為超過兩億的薪資總和加上2000萬而臉色發白。在此時，帥派回歸的這個決定-原本以為會給洋基在Santana交易案有額外的影響力，事實上，剛好給了現金人所需要的退出時機。

Bad as it was to be sacrificing Hughes, Cashman told the Yankee high command, look at what the payroll was going to be now if they added $20 million-$21 million for Santana on top of the $16 million they just tacked on with Pettitte. At that point, there was considerable internal debate as to whether to proceed with Santana even after the Twins had backed off from Kennedy and picked Marquez, who is regarded as a second-tier pitching prospect, and Hilligoss, a Wade Boggs-type singles-hitting third baseman who did have a 35-game hitting streak last season and led the South Atlantic League in hits.
犧牲Hughes來說是一件壞事，現金人告訴洋基高層，想想剛剛才添上帥派這一筆1600萬的薪資總和，如果再加上Santana的2000或2100萬，那將會是如何。這時候也產生了內部的爭議，到底應不應該在雙城放棄Kennedy轉而要求Marquez（被認為是第二級的新秀投手）和Hilligoss（Wade Boggs這一類型的短程安打三壘好手，在上個賽季連續35場安打，並在South Atlantic League的安打排行榜領先群雄）這兩位好手而繼續進行交易。

In the end, Cashman prevailed, convincing Hank and Hal Steinbrenner of something he could never have done with their dad - that trading for Johan Santana was simply too expensive for the New York Yankees. Left unsaid was why the Yankee payroll is once again out of hand. For starters, there's the $10 million that is being frittered away on Carl Pavano next season and another $4 million for Kei Igawa that is separate from his $26 million posting fee. And had Cashman not chosen to let Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera play out the season before dealing with them as free agents, he would have saved at least a year and a couple of million apiece on their contracts.
最後，現金人成功的說服了小老闆兩兄弟，這可能是他以前從來沒有對大老闆做過的事。把Santana交易過來對於紐約洋基來說真的是太貴了（或者說代價太大了）。還沒談到，為什麼洋基的薪資總和又再次的爆表了。光是先發投手，下個球季就已經分別浪費了1000萬美金和400萬在痛痛人與井川慶身上，而且還沒加上井川慶2600萬的談話費。而且現金人當初沒讓Posada和Mo在成為自由球員之前就先行續約，他本來一年至少可以在他們每個人的合約上省下數百萬美金的。

News source：http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2007/12/05/2007-12-05_brian_cashman_yanks_balk_at_millions_and.html

大概點出一些重點，就是現金人不太想要犧牲Hughes而且還要增加payroll，所以勸退了小老闆，而小老闆最後也妥協了。這是以前大老板掌權時代，現金人不太可能辦到的事。

PS：翻譯如果有錯，歡迎各位指正，謝謝。因為看了一堆文章，眼睛都花了　Orz