There really are sportswriters who believe the Twins are better off keeping Santana and trying to beat out the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians for the AL Central and the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees for the AL Wild Card. This doesn't include teams like the Toronto Blue Jays or Seattle Mariners who could be serious Wild Card contenders, too.
Ken Davidoff of Newsday is one of those writers. A run at the play-offs plus two draft picks in the 2009 June draft are the equivalent of Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson or Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Marquez or Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra.
However, a "veteran executive plugged into the Twins' thinking believes Johan Santana will be dealt by the start of Spring Training. The vet offers two reasons. One that hasn't been given a lot of attention, and another I have mentioned many times already but is still not attended very well in national discussions on the plus/minus ledger of taking a deal now..
The less attended constant questions of when Santana will be dealt that will follow the team each and every day of the 2008 season. This type of distraction could be a negative factor working aginst the successful season especially on a team that was griping last year about contract extensions i.e. Santana and 2006 MVP Justin Morneau.
Once the regular season starts, the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets are less likely to deal contributing players from their 25-man rosters. This would force new trade configurations that no one right now even contemplates. Given how long it has taken for Bill Smith to pull the trigger now, any new considerations are likely to have the Johna Santana fielding offers 15 days after the 2008 World Series before Smith can come to a decision.