End of the Road for Phil Hughes and the Twins

It took some guts to make this decision by the Front Office although i'm sure they received approval from the Pohlads before hand.  20+ million to eat is a lot!

That said, I wish Phil all the best.  He really is a class act individual and he battled his tale off trying to work his way back.  It's just a shame that injuries have derailed his career at 31 years old.  Now the question is do they do the same with Lance Lynn if he continues to stink it up.

 It's time for a guaranteed income for everybody in this country, not just CEOs and big-league pitchers. 

No its not.  You say that until your taxes quadruple.  Nobody deserves guaranteed income (i'm not talking about disability or welfare).  You SHOULD have to work to earn it.  

I'm actually really bummed about this. I LOVED the Phil Hughes signing when we first brought him here and then he had that wonderful first season with us...it was great! I remember being surprised by the extension, and didn't think it made a lot of sense, but I don't think I bitched much about it, because I was definitely on the Phil Hughes train. The next season he had a major drop-off, but I was still a Phil guy. I thought, maybe he was a little unlucky on giving up the HRs, maybe the K's will come back...he's still not walking too many guys...I had hope. And then the wheels fell off.

Too many injuries. Shoulder problems. The velocity was down, the HRs kept flying out of the yard, the Ks never came back, the walks went back up...I was pretty sure going into this season that Phil Hughes was cooked, but I was ok with him making the roster. I was still rooting for him.

So I'm bummed. Phil Hughes was pretty easy to root for. When he was going, he was a lot of fun to watch.

It's the right decision, and I'm glad to see the FO is willing to make it. That's a healthy chunk of change they're eating, but the reality is Phil Hughes is no longer a MLB pitcher.

I vehemently disagree with the people who want to dump Lance Lynn the same way. It's not the same situation, not at all.

1.) Most Twins fans now claim to hate the move but back then, the reaction was decidedly more mixed. This is the TD version of the "I was at the Bill Mazeroski Shot Heard Round the World game."

 

2.) I was one of many people who liked the move back then and I like it still today. The move was reasonable (Phil Hughes salary has not hamstrung the Twins and he has not blocked any ready prospects) and just didn't work out. Sometimes the end result is bad but it doesn't mean the process was bad. The Twins got a great season out of Hughes and because of the two years left on his deal, they had the leverage to get a team-friendly extension. That involves a gamble but it was a reasonable one, especially when you think about how hard it is to find an ace.

 

And Phil Hughes had an ace season. He was 27 with the stuff to make it seem like it could be legit. Potentially having an ace for 5 years is worth what the Twins paid. I know this because the Twins are still looking for an ace. It's hard to lure one away (Darvish showed us that non-elite markets and teams need to pay way extra to get top pitchers) and it's hard to develop one (Berrios is likely a #2, Romero might be it but it's early and Graterol looks like one but throws 100 which is scary injury-wise).

 

I thought it was a good move then and I stand by that today. It's easy to hate on the decision because it didn't work out but 2014 Phil Hughes was probably the best shot the Twins have had to find an ace or near-ace pitcher. They took that shot and I don't fault them for it - you miss 100% of shots you don't take.

I agree that a good process doesn't always deliver a good result. I've said the same thing multiple times regarding the Park signing. I don't agree that the process was solid in this case, so I think ripping the results is warranted. They could have waited another season to make sure the 14' Hughes was who they were signing and not 10'-13' Hughes, and still come in early on the extension. 

To me, this really highlights the fine line between functional major leaguer and out of the league. Hughes could still get guys out, just not enough. Of he were young, he'd be a AAAA guy. He worked so hard, and he's not that far off. Control is still there. Velo is close. Fine line. Is it for sure that he'll refuse assignment if no big league teams take him?

C'mon. This is a b.s. hot take response.

 

No one on here is saying, "I hate Phil Hughes. If I saw him on fire in the street I would pee on a bush and laugh at him." No one is talking about these guys as people - maybe unless it deals with player misconduct. I think it's pretty clear that he was talking about Phil Hughes the ballplayer and asset.

 

You can be happy to see Phil Hughes go because it makes the Twins better. It doesn't mean that you're wishing ill on people.

Fair enough.   But, like I said, I respect his opinion... I just don't agree with it.

Oh Terry Ryan's desperation killed us in the long run. Couldn't have predicted the injuries, but could have predicted the decline in production. 

Good luck, Phil

Like mikelink said, this isn't personal. We don't know Hughes the person. He may be the greatest person in the world.

From a pure baseball perspective, I agree with him and thrilled he's no longer on roster. I don't like watching broken pitchers on my favorite team, and he's been broken for a long, long time.

I totally concur.   I don't believe it's personal in any fashion and as I said in my post, it was clearly time for both parties to move on.   I'm glad both the team and Hughes really seemed to handle it in a professional manner.

But my point was simply (and maybe poorly explained, but then we shouldn't be all that surprised coming from me), that we shouldn't be "glad" he's gone.   Rather it should be to lament that another talented soul is forced from the game he loves due to injuries.

1.) Most Twins fans now claim to hate the move but back then, the reaction was decidedly more mixed. This is the TD version of the "I was at the Bill Mazeroski Shot Heard Round the World game."

 

2.) I was one of many people who liked the move back then and I like it still today. The move was reasonable (Phil Hughes salary has not hamstrung the Twins and he has not blocked any ready prospects) and just didn't work out. Sometimes the end result is bad but it doesn't mean the process was bad. The Twins got a great season out of Hughes and because of the two years left on his deal, they had the leverage to get a team-friendly extension. That involves a gamble but it was a reasonable one, especially when you think about how hard it is to find an ace.

 

And Phil Hughes had an ace season. He was 27 with the stuff to make it seem like it could be legit. Potentially having an ace for 5 years is worth what the Twins paid. I know this because the Twins are still looking for an ace. It's hard to lure one away (Darvish showed us that non-elite markets and teams need to pay way extra to get top pitchers) and it's hard to develop one (Berrios is likely a #2, Romero might be it but it's early and Graterol looks like one but throws 100 which is scary injury-wise).

 

I thought it was a good move then and I stand by that today. It's easy to hate on the decision because it didn't work out but 2014 Phil Hughes was probably the best shot the Twins have had to find an ace or near-ace pitcher. They took that shot and I don't fault them for it - you miss 100% of shots you don't take.

Bold prediction: Phil Hughes will pitch in a major league baseball game against the Minnesota Twins. 

Definitely a candidate for the Bill James Theorem of Pitcher Recycling: Roughly one out of every ten pitchers in the majors was left for dead at some point or another in their career.

I'll echo what most posters have said in various ways: I hope Mr. Hughes latches on somewhere and wins Comeback Player of the Year.

Someone mentioned trading, when a guy is coming off a career year. In hindsight, more often than not, that should be a positive move (think if the Twins had moved Delmon Young after his one super season with the Twins). 

Utimately, it shows the chancs you take with big contracts or extensions. Sometimes they make a player more valuable and you see it in the Denard Span trade. But you also see who the Twins got for Span, lots of promise but basically no success. 

Will that be the future of major league baseball, overpaying (rewarding) for a solid season or two and then eating a contract, or constantly flipping players when possible and signing low-to-mid-range guys with the hopes of being somewhat (appearance) competitive on the field.

The other elephant in the room is pitching tonight for the Twins. All they have invested in a one-year free agent contract, so will be interesting to see the length of the leash when time comes to add May (who will probably start in releif) and Santana to the rotation.

In Lynn's case, it is only money already spent for the season. It would be a hit, but no more than having to pay a guy to be, say, on a disbabled lsit all season.

Do we need hughe's 40-man spot? Not really, as some point Castro changes out for one of the current returnees.

When the Twins shuffle Sano back in, someone else will also be leaving the roster (and possibly organization).

Hope that someone dos take a flyer on Mr. Hughes and lets him work yo see if he can comeback. It won't cost them anymore than the major league minimum for this sesson and next...so expect there to be some lucky team out there with a spare roster slot.