Washburn To Yankees Close To Done-Deal

6:15pm: Ken Rosenthal just reported during the Fox telecast that the deal is now being held up by the Mariners demand for a top prospect in addition to the Yankees taking the remainder of Washburn’s contract.

5:53pm: Gregor Chisholm is now reporting that Washburn is still listed as the Mariners starting pitcher for Sunday.

5:04pm: Jon Heyman is also saying that the deal could be done in the next couple of days. He also notes that any compensation for Washburn would not be in the form of an extension from the Yankees.

4:52pm: Peter Abraham is now reporting that the deal could happen as early as tomorrow and that the Yankees are willing to pay all of the salary remaining on the contract "in return for not sending Seattle any player of significance. No, not Kei Igawa." Abraham also feels that any compensation would come from Seattle.

4:31pm: Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times spoke with Washburn following today’s game and Washburn gave no indication that a deal was done, or even imminent. Washburn did make it clear that he will seek some form of compensation in return for waiving his no-trade clause.

Buster Olney is reporting that the oft-talked about deal in which the Mariners would send Jarrod Washburn to the Yankees, will likely be completed in the next 48 hours. Olney suggests that the move is a salary dump with $13-14MM still owed to Washburn ($3-4MM in ’08, $10.35MM in ’09). If the Yankees take on most or all of the remaining contract, do not look for any big names to be going back in the other direction.

I spoke with Peter Abraham of the Journal-News and he reiterated that Brian Cashman is saying that the deal is not done yet.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com and can be reached here.