(Photo by Reuters. Orlando Hudson, above, getting drilled by a pitch last July.)
O-No-Dog!
$5 Million vs. ~$3-4 Million?
Hudson takes Twins' money, and runs.
Rizzo puts Ted Lerner's checkbook back in his desk drawer.
Hurdles remain, including a physical, but #Twins are moving toward signing O. Hudson to one-year, $5M deal.
(Ken Rosenthal, via Twitter, 2/04/2010)Heard this: Hudson is closing in on a $5 million with the Twins.
(Buster Olney, via Twitter, 2/04/2010)
So Desmond/Guzman it is in 2010. Or Desmond/Guzman/Kennedy. Or...maybe someone can track down Jose Vidro and throw him back in the mix. No matter how you mix and match the bodies, the Nationals head into the 2010 season with big question marks up the middle.
Granted, Orlando Hudson has probably lost a step. And not signing Orlando Hudson is not the end of the world. But what happened?
According to a published report, the Nationals offered Hudson $3 million, with incentives that could have brought the value of the contract to $4 million. The source said Hudson was not going to sign with Washington for that kind of money.
(via Bill Ladson/Nationals.com, 2/04/2010)Despite mutual interest between both parties, neither was willing to budge on financial terms. The Nats were believed to have offered between $3 million and $4 million; Hudson insisted on considerably more than that.
(Mark Zuckerman, via Nats Insider, 2/04/2010)
So it was all about the money. Surprise.
But consider for a moment that Mike Rizzo was willing to throw $6 million for 2 yrs. down the crapper for the washed up carcass of Pudge Rodriguez in the name of mentoring. It seems strange that Rizzo would then refuse to move on a $3+ million incentive-laden deal for a guy who would be an upgrade up the middle for baseball's worst defensive team.
What happened? Did Rizzo botch this thing? Or was Hudson really refusing to budge from that reported demand for $9 million? Surely this wasn't a question of Rizzo being up against a tight budget. Right?
Can't we just blame the Lerners and be done with it? No? Fine.
Tonight, we're disappointed that the Nationals failed to sign Orlando Hudson. Not despondent, but disappointed.
How many days until pitchers and catchers report?
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