“This is not a bluff; it’s just reality. It’s a fact. The Yankees will not be used to jack up the price on people — whether by agents or other teams — ever again. That’s over.
“I don’t want to continue this dog-and-pony show, playing us against the Red Sox. I’m not going to participate in that. This is our best offer. Minnesota knows it’s our best offer. Everybody knows it is.
“We need to get this done. If we don’t, I certainly won’t be upset about keeping Hughes and Cabrera. I definitely won’t. I don’t think Minnesota wants to be stuck negotiating with just one team.
“How can I go any higher? What do they want — Hughes, Kennedy and Cabrera? I can’t do that kind of thing. It’s crazy. It’s suicidal. In the past 20 or 30 years, teams have always asked more from the Yankees than they have of anybody else, and that’s going to stop. I’ve made the best offer Minnesota is going to get, and the fact is, it’s an offer we can go away happy and they can go away happy.
“I do want Santana, and the fact is that this is their best offer. I think it’s probably the best offer they’re going to get from anybody. I don’t know what Boston’s going to do, but that won’t determine what I do.”
I didn't know Hank Steinbrenner made himself general manager! But in that case, who ate the old one?
