Yesterday afternoon an hour-plus rain delay in the eighth inning meant Twins right-hander Phil Hughes finished his final start of the season one out short of reaching 210 innings to receive a $500,000 bonus.

It was terrible timing, as the rain started pouring in Minnesota just as Hughes was cruising through his eighth inning of one-run ball against the Diamondbacks. He was in total control, with a low pitch count, and definitely would have pitched the ninth inning.

Today the Twins offered Hughes a chance to make a brief relief appearance over the weekend in order to reach the magic 210-inning mark. He turned that down and also said he wouldn’t have been interested in simply being given the $500,000 bonus.

On one hand Hughes has earned more than $8 million this season and by the time his three-year contract is over he’ll have made around $40 million for his career, so $500,000 is not to the same to him as most people. On the other hand, if not for the rain delay he’d definitely have earned the $500,000 bonus, a half-million bucks is still a half-million bucks, and in setting the all-time strikeout-to-walk ratio record this season he’s been worth several times his salary to the Twins.

Good on the Twins for offering, at least. Perhaps a $500,000 donation to charity in Hughes’ name would put a nice little bow on the story as a compromise?

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