I apologize for the time spent away, life gets busy sometimes so it makes it tough to keep up with things, but I need to make time for this story.
So there is quite the biding war going on for Johan Santana right now, he is in the final year of his contract with Minnesota, and they know they won’t be able to hold onto him next year when he hits free agency, especially if he manages to win the Cy Young – AGAIN – So they need to deal him now to another team who can afford to keep him and get some other players and prospects who they can afford to build up their team.
So as of now, the Yankees are supposedly out of the bidding due to their self imposed deadline, I don’t buy that for one second. This is the same team who said they would not negotiate with Arod if he opted out of his contract, and yet look how that went down.
They have Kennedy, Chamberlain, Hughes, and Cabrera on the block trying to get Johan. Two of these guys are the ones who would go in this deal, no way it would be all of them. I am guessing it would be Cabrera and probably Kennedy who would end up being the two to go.
I think hughes is nothing special and Chamberlain isn’t gonna go anywhere, the Yankees and their fans are way too high on him for management to let him go anywhere. In contrast to what we hear and most seem to think, I don’t think he will ever be a main stay starter for them. I watched him pitch a few times this past season, and he doesn’t have the pitches to be a starter, I think he has 2 really good pitches, but that is about it, a starter needs 3 good pitches, and at least 1 decent pitch. He will end up as a setup man for Mariano the next couple years, and then he will end up taking over the closing job for the Yankees in 2.5 to 3 years when Mariano retires and heads back to Panama.
I have heard some small rumors of the Angels getting in on the bidding, but no major details, I don’t think they have the prospects for the Twins to want to make the trade, so no real info to share on this one except that it may include Jered Weaver.
Then we have the Red Sox, and wow, they are not holding back on this. I have been bothered by hearing rumors of Jacoby Ellsbury being part of potential deals in order to get Santana, and while I think Santana would be awesome for the Red Sox, I don’t think giving up Jacoby is worth it. I think he will be more valuable in the long run than Santana would be. Yes, I know Santana is a proven pitcher, but look at the Red Sox pitching staff as it is now, it’s good, it’s damn good, they do not NEED Santana but he would be nice. Twins are looking at Ellsbury due to his 5 years left before FA and he plays CF, just like Tori Hunter who just left the Twins for a MONSTER contract in LA.
However, luckily the most recent rumors bouncing around have nothing to do with Ellsbury. The last grouping of players I heard being offered by the Red Sox included: John Lester, Coco Crisp, Justin Masterson, Jed Lowrie, and Ryan Kalish.
WOW, talk about a set of players!! All these guys are top prospects in the Red Sox system and have performed well, although only Lowrie has AAA experience, but the Twins want promising prospects, and these are exactly what they are looking for.
I will miss Lester, he pitched game 4 this year, and his story with the Lymphoma is a inspiring one, but this is business, not personal.
I look forward to seeing how this will turn out.
IF the Red Sox get Santana, and the rest of their pitchers stay healthy as well next year, then this team would be so dominant that they would likely win the division handily, and could possibly repeat as WS champions.
Exciting, Exciting, Exciting!!!