Mets get Santana, Sox and Yanks keep prospects

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

The Mets get Johan Santana without giving up Fernando Martinez, their best prospect, or Mike Pelfrey, their best young pitcher. They also immediately make themselves the favorites to win their division and have a good argument that they're the best team in the National League. It's hard to see this deal as anything other than a win for New York, and given how many people claimed (erroneously) that the Mets didn't have the prospects to get Santana, it must be doubly sweet for Omar Minaya right now.

For the Twins, or at least for their fans, this has to feel like a huge letdown after a winter that saw names like Jacoby Ellsbury and Phil Hughes bandied about by the media, although whether those players were actually available in trade talks is another matter entirely. The Twins deal their best asset and the best pitcher in franchise history -- not to mention the greatest Rule 5 pick in the history of that draft -- for quantity, but not the type of quality you expect a pitcher of his caliber to fetch in return.

In Santana, the Mets get one of the game's best pitchers, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who has to be the early favorite for the NL Cy right away, given his track record and the run and defensive support he'll get in New York. It's a five-win upgrade at worst, more if you consider the sixth- and seventh-starter types the Mets might have had to employ this year had they not made this deal. But the addition of Santana does two things for the Mets above and beyond the direct value he provides with his pitching. One, he'll give the Mets 50-75 more innings than they would have gotten from the starter he replaces in the rotation; he takes pressure off their bullpen and allows Willie Randolph to give his best relievers more rest, which he wasn't able to do last August and September. Two, he pushes everyone in the rotation back into a more suitable spot. Pelfrey now has to "win" a starting role in spring training, which, given the work he still needs to do, is not a bad situation. Oliver Perez and John Maine won't line up quite as often against opposing No. 1 and 2 starters.

Santana is not without his red flags; he stumbled to the finish in 2007 and in the past has had elbow chips, a problem that tends to recur. He's become more flyball-oriented recently, leading to a big spike in his home run rate this year; the acquisition could encourage the Citi Field architects to push the fences back a few feet. And the days of him shouldering 230-240 innings a year may be behind him, although facing the pitcher two or three times a game may help him recover some of the lost workload.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3221258&name=law_keith

 

[Real World]

The Twins got so hosed. They should have taken Hughes when they could have. Thankfully they didn't. The Yankees screwed themselves too though. They should have did the deal for Kennedy, Melky, plus that was allegedly offered (if it was). I have to think it was since the Mets package is GROSS. From the Sox perspective, any deal they offered was superior to the Mets' too.

 

[groundgame]

. The Yankees screwed themselves too though. They should have did the deal for Kennedy, Melky, plus that was allegedly offered (if it was). I have to think it was since the Mets package is GROSS. From the Sox perspective, any deal they offered was superior to the Mets' too.

It looks like the Twins were going to deal Santana out of the AL unless the Red Sox or Yankees severly overpaid, which they did not. Advantage Red Sox, because the Achilles heel of the Yankees continues to be elite starting pitching.

 

[sdaniels7114]

Have the Mets extended him yet? I heard of this deal yesterday morning, so the 72 hour window is 1/2 closed. I'm wondering how a certain Pitcher who constantly carries on about not getting enough respect will react to a better rooster in the hen house? Santana says he won't waive his no-trade once spring training starts. If the Mets can't sign him long-term the Twins' asking price will take another big hit.

 

[Cityofchampions33]

The Twins got so hosed. They should have taken Hughes when they could have. Thankfully they didn't. The Yankees screwed themselves too though. They should have did the deal for Kennedy, Melky, plus that was allegedly offered (if it was). I have to think it was since the Mets package is GROSS. From the Sox perspective, any deal they offered was superior to the Mets' too.

I think it's more they wanted to deal him to the NL, and the margin between the packages wasn't big enough to reject the Met's deal.

 

[Cityofchampions33]

The Twins got so hosed. They should have taken Hughes when they could have. Thankfully they didn't. The Yankees screwed themselves too though. They should have did the deal for Kennedy, Melky, plus that was allegedly offered (if it was). I have to think it was since the Mets package is GROSS. From the Sox perspective, any deal they offered was superior to the Mets' too.

I think it's more they wanted to deal him to the NL, and the margin between the packages wasn't big enough to reject the Met's deal.

 

[Cityofchampions33]

The Twins got so hosed. They should have taken Hughes when they could have. Thankfully they didn't. The Yankees screwed themselves too though. They should have did the deal for Kennedy, Melky, plus that was allegedly offered (if it was). I have to think it was since the Mets package is GROSS. From the Sox perspective, any deal they offered was superior to the Mets' too.

I think it's more they wanted to deal him to the NL, and the margin between the packages wasn't big enough to reject the Met's deal.

 

[Chubzilla]

It looks like the Twins were going to deal Santana out of the AL unless the Red Sox or Yankees severly overpaid, which they did not. Advantage Red Sox, because the Achilles heel of the Yankees continues to be elite starting pitching.

id rather taken chances with Hughes, Kennedy and chamberlain than deal one of them away and pay 150 million to santana. Starting pitching isn't going to be a problem for the yanks anymore, not with pitching well they have stockpiled in the minors. I expect alan Horne and delan betances to become the next two top rated prospects for the yanks

 

[patriotspride]

id rather taken chances with Hughes, Kennedy and chamberlain than deal one of them away and pay 150 million to santana. Starting pitching isn't going to be a problem for the yanks anymore, not with pitching well they have stockpiled in the minors. I expect alan Horne and delan betances to become the next two top rated prospects for the yanks

f-ck the yankees .you must be lost .

 

[Real World]

id rather taken chances with Hughes, Kennedy and chamberlain than deal one of them away and pay 150 million to santana. Starting pitching isn't going to be a problem for the yanks anymore, not with pitching well they have stockpiled in the minors. I expect alan Horne and delan betances to become the next two top rated prospects for the yanks

Betances is a kid they're really, really high on. He's raw, but he has a chance to be extremely special.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

id rather taken chances with Hughes, Kennedy and chamberlain than deal one of them away and pay 150 million to santana. Starting pitching isn't going to be a problem for the yanks anymore, not with pitching well they have stockpiled in the minors. I expect alan Horne and delan betances to become the next two top rated prospects for the yanks

Money is no concern for the Yankees, especially with the guys they have coming off of the books in the next couple years along with the new stadium. So let's remove that from the discussion.

As a Sox fan I am thrilled that NY will be sending out Chamberlain, Hughes, and Kennedy for the next 5-6 years rather than Santana + two of them (Kennedy doesn't even belong in the discussion with the other guys). Santana is the best pitcher in baseball, and could have given NY 200+ innings this year rather than the 150-180 each of the kids will.

Of course the flip side of this is that I wanted to see him in a Sox uniform and won't.

Starting pitching will still be a problem for the Yanks this year, and don't be so sure it won't be in the future either. Young pitchers can't give you a heavy workload, often struggle, and get hurt. Of course, with Schilling going down the Sox may experience some of the same issues.