Twins’ Hughes turns down $500K bonus

The Minnesota Twins reached out to pitcher Phil Hughes on Thursday to offer him an opportunity to earn a $500,000 bonus that he barely missed out on because of a rain delay, but the the right-hander politely declined.

Hughes was one out short of reaching 210 innings pitched for the season, which would have given him the bonus, when a one-hour rain delay prevented him from returning to pitch the ninth inning in the Twins’ 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

The Twins on Thursday gave Hughes the option of pitching in relief during the weekend to reach 210 innings, but he said his season is over and that he wouldn’t feel right about making a token appearance just to collect the money.

The 28-year-old Hughes finishes the 2014 season with a 16-10 record, a 3.52 ERA and a major league record for walks-to-strikeout ratio with 16 walks and 186 strikeouts.

Hughes is in his first season with the Twins after seven years with the New York Yankees.