Couple things.

1) The Yankees traded Brian Bruney to the Nationals for the elusive PTBNL.

The PTBNL, as it turns out, is Washington’s Rule 5 pick–and they, unless I am mistaken–pick first. So the Yankees get to pick first in the Rule 5 draft.

Before you go moaning about how the Rule 5 draft is just prospects that teams don’t care enough to protect, remember that one Johan Santana was also a Rule 5 pick.

And it cost us Brian Bruney.

The potential for this to turn into something akin to Swisher ‘09 down the road is intriguing–and one would think Cashman wouldn’t ask for the Rule V pick unless the Yankees had someone in mind.

2) This sentiment has been echoed by others, but thus far it’s the bloggers–and perhaps their cynicism–and not the main stream media that’s doing a better job of not reporting every single rumor they hear as veritable fact.

It might also have something to do with the fact that bloggers seem to be able to grasp how quickly information can spread on twitter, while many of the MSM have yet to figure out that twitter is as much about the ability to interact with others as anything else.

3) The Tigers, according to Buster Olney, basically want Hughes and Austin Jackson for Curtis Granderson, a trade that would basically (IMO) give the Tigers Hughes for free.

Granderson might be the nicest guy you meet, but no thanks. Hughes is the guy you trade for a guy like Halladay–and that’s only if you trade him and not Joba, when the consensus seems to be that in such a case the Yankees would be more likely to go the other way around.