The Twins Ready To Move On Johan Santana

by faketeams on Jan 25, 2008 6:28 AM EST in Baseball

FWIW, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune told Charlie Steiner on his XM Radio show, "Baseball Beat", that Twins officials he has spoken with on the team's Winter Caravan would ideally want a Johan Santana trade completed by next week. His colleague, La Velle E. Neal III writes the Twins do not want to extend this into Spring Training and have picked-up the pace in discussions with the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox.

The sticking point, according to Mr. Neal, is the Twins don't want $0.20 on the $1 in terms of talent. Unfortunately, this implies the Twins are the team being unreasonable. Why would these deep-pocketed teams bid against themselves when they can simply let Santana hit the free agent makret next year and overpay him while keeping all those valuable 0-3 players?

That said, La Velle reports the Mets appear to be in the lead to land him. Given Boston's offers are better in terms of player contributions in 2008 and forward, one can easily conclude the Red Sox are not serious and remain in the discussions only to drive the Yankees' price upwards. One can easily conclude the Twins know that, too, and that is why they have not taken the deal.

The poor New York teams. The Twins want the Yankees' lead players, Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera, along with two more high level prospects, but the Yankees don't want to deal Hughes at all, much less adding Ian Kennedy to a package with him. The Mets want him but need the Twins to accept their third-best offer.

Hopefully, Souhan and Neal are correct, and this soap opera ends soon.

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KC writer hit it right on the head........

"OK, so here's the rub: I'm flat sick and tired of going on Baseball Think Factory or one of the other baseball Web sites every other day and reading some headline that says: "Red Sox Back in Santana Derby," or "Don't Count Out Yankees In Race For Santana" or "Mets Take Santana Lead." First off, you can't take a "lead" when it comes to a trade. This isn't NASCAR. You don't get points for leading a lap. Some team may trade for Santana, or maybe not, but one thing is certain: There won't be a second place. And no team will get even one scoreless inning because they "led" the Santana race in December."

by lloydxmas on Jan 25, 2008 6:39 AM EST reply actions

Surprising

What exactly gets a KC Royals writer to work everyday? Certainly not the Royals.

Oooooh. Will Tony Pena be the worst everyday hitter in baseball this season?

by faketeams on Jan 25, 2008 8:46 AM EST reply actions

.....huh?

"Given Boston's offers are better in terms of player contributions in 2008 and forward, one can easily conclude the Red Sox are not serious and remain in the discussions only to drive the Yankees' price upwards."

Am I missing something here? The Red Sox give a better offer for the Twins to contend sooner -- therefore they're not serious? Is anyone else highly confused by this?

That said... even as a Red Sox fan, I can commiserate with you guys about being sick of all those frigging headlines...

"The Mets/Sox/Yankees would love to land Santana" NO SH*T, I'm sure the other 26 teams wouldn't mind it either!

I'm so bored by all of this... I personally hope the Mets land Santana... I hope he doesn't end up in the Bronx, because it turns the Yankees into an instant contender... without Santana going to the AL East, it swaps out the balance of power for the last like 5 years....

The Red Sox now become the Yankees, the clear favorite
The Blue Jays become the Red Sox, the tough team that will probably fade in August and land in the Wild Card maybe
The Yankees become the Blue Jays, the pesky team that gives you trouble when you're playing them but don't scare you in the standings
And the O's and Rays trade roles... the Rays will probably be an afterthought by May, but improving, and the O's are hopeless.

by bohsocks on Jan 25, 2008 11:06 AM EST reply actions

Sox offer

I believe the Red Sox offers are better. Why haven't the Twins taken it yet? Answer; The Red Sox are not serious but let the offer stand with Twins knowledge that it won't be accpeted.

What I believe puts the rumored Red Sox iterations the best is the presense of Jed Lowrie.

by faketeams on Jan 25, 2008 11:51 AM EST up reply actions

Yanks/Jays this year

I wouldn't be so quick to write off the Yankees. Their pitching doesn't need to be that good to get them into the playoffs given the offense that they have, unless age and injuries finally catch up to them, but waiting for that seems like waiting for Godot. Santana makes them more of a threat to win once they get to the playoffs, though, and he gives them a better chance at taking the division over the Sox.

As for the Jays, they need a lot of stuff to happen to contend--avoid injuries and sophomore slumps on the pitching staff, get production from several guys who haven't been too great lately (Rolen, Eckstein, Zaun, Wells, and Thomas all appear to be declining/needing to recover/not that good), leaving Overbay as an average-ish 1B, Rios as a legitimate threat, Stairs as an aging guy who hit well last year, and Hill as a nice 2B. I don't see it unless they get some 2005 CWS style luck.

by poludamas on Jan 25, 2008 1:52 PM EST up reply actions