News flash - Johan Santana has been traded to the New York Mets (pending a contract agreement). In return for Santana, the Twins will receive four of the Mets top prospects -- outfielder Carlos Gomez and righthanders Phillip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. Let the moaning and gnashing of teeth begin. The Twins are already getting ripped by the public for this deal. Why didn't they sign him? After all, he was only asking for $150 million over 6 years. Not bad for a guy who pitches once every 5 days. Why didn't he take the 4-year $80 million that the Twins offered him? There are 150 million reasons for that question.Folks, once again, the Twins simply had to trade Johan Santana just as they had to let Torii Hunter go. I cannot fault them for either decision considering the money that was spent by the Mets and Angels, respectively, on these two players. A team with a projected payroll of $70-$80 million cannot pay one pitcher $20 million per year (see Kevin Garnett - Timberwolves). Plus, I'd feel worse if the Twins had not already spent a massive chunk of change to lock up Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddeyer. I believe (What Jeff Thinks) the Twins spent wisely in retaining these three core players for years to come.
Now, whether or not the Twins got the best deal is a question that cannot be answered for a few years. The Yankees and Red Sox reportedly had offers on the table. However, I know this - the Twins were also widely ripped by the media and the public for each of the following deals:
Frank Viola to the Mets (irony) for Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera and David West.
A.J. Pierzynski to the Giants for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano.
Chuck Knoblauch to the Yankees for Eric Milton, Christian Guzman and Brian Buchanon.
The Twins were soundly criticized for each of these trades. Each trade, however, made the Twins better. And, the Twins were able to parlay some of the players received in these trades into future deals for good young players. The only past star players that the Twins have decided to keep for their entire careers are Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek and Brad Radke.
This is how the Twins have always functioned as a ballclub. This trade is no different. I believe the goal for this team is to field a great young team when the new ballpark opens in 2010. They are well on their way.
The Twins are gonna be OK.
Footnote: Here is a link to Jim Souhan's article on the subject that will appear in Wednesday's StarTribune. I did not read this prior to writing this post:
http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/14848406.html
Jeff
13 comments:
Yeah, initial reaction is... WTF!!!
Bottom line, we were never gonna keep Santana w/ his price tag being so HIGH.
The biggest question, did the Twins take the best offer that came their way... time will tell.
Right now I'm feeling ill and wondering why we're building a new stadium for the Twins instead of the vikings... hopefully the feeling passes.
The Pantless Wonder.
Jeff,
Another thing that most Twins fans don't realize, is that they didn't trade away Johan Santana, they traded away *one year's worth of Johan Santana*, because, even while he will sign long-term with the Mets, he never would have signed here after '08. That's a huge difference. I'm still not saying this was a good trade, because only time will tell, but they didn't have a whole lot of leverage. AND the team that traded for him knew they'd have to pony up $120 - $150M to sign him. That's not a lot of motivation to give up your farm team.
By the way, you're dead wrong when you say the Twins were ripped for the AJ and Knoblauch trades. They traded AJ to open up room for Baby Jesus to catch, and no one around here criticized that. And if I recall, trading Knobber pretty much elicted yawns.
Well, I don't think it was just trading away a single year of Santana... pretty sure the Twins would have been compensated had he been signed away the following year (2 1st round pick I thought I heard).
The Pantless Wonder.
Well Thomps this is a pretty disappointing deal for the Twins. Gomez is not ready to play center field this year as he has no plate discipline, really he is Denard Span with a bit of pop. Humber and Mulvey are largely ready but only grade out as innings eaters ultimately think Bonser. The only potential savior of the deal is Guerra who is unlikely to be on the major league roster when the new stadium opens but does look to have Felix Hernandez type upside if he stays healthy (a big if).Sure glad we got Delmon Young.
ronnie-san
You're right Pantless Wonder, they would have received 2 #1 picks when Santana walked. (Just like with losing Hunter, another type "A" free agent)
For the most levelheaded review of the trade from a Twins perspective, check out Aaron Gleeman's entry today
Neil - Maybe "ripped" is the wrong word for the Knobby trade, but I remember they were criticized for "not getting enough" in return at the time.
Ronnie-San and Pantless - along with the question marks about the prospects, the other question is "what will the Twins do with the money they save on Santana?" I would think that this year the answer is "nothing." I heard on KFAN that this trade puts their payroll around $50-$55 million. If they eventually sign another pitcher or big-time hitter with that money, the trade looks better. If they don't bring somebody in eventually, the trade looks worse.
Many questions to be answered.
Vikings stadium over Twins? That is crazy. 8 games per YEAR so that a bunch of idiots can get drunk and act like fools vs. 81 baseball games?
Not even close...even if the Vikings go undefeated.
NFL football is a made for TV sport that could be just as entertaining if played in a studio as it is in a billion dollar stadium (which is how much Dallas is paying for theirs).
One more commment about the trade.
Santana is on the decline. I would like to be the first to thank the Mets for paying Santana for the Cy Young awards he has already won. He will be a nice #1 starter who gets 15-18 wins a year while 15-20 guys who make $450,000 per year will do the same thing in MLB.
In baseball, players get paid for what they did, not what they are doing.
thomps-I need you to verify this with your doctor trainer connection with the twins. I read in sporting news or espn magazine that liriano's pitching delivery motion is so unnatural that it is only a matter of time before he throws out his entire arm. The "source" said that not if, but when he has to do this, he will of course never be the pitcher he was. he basically got this injury because of his incorrect delivery. have you ever heard about what I am talking about?
Tony - from Charley Walter's column in yesterday's Pioneer Press:
Speculation has begun that the Twins' Francisco Liriano, whose rehabilitation from a rebuilt left elbow 15 months ago has been completed, will have to change his pitching delivery when he returns to the mound in spring training next month.
An unidentified baseball executive with a team other than the Twins told the New York Times that Liriano pitches with his elbow upside down, meaning he has to flip it over in his delivery, which causes too much stress.
"It will be interesting to see if he comes back with mechanics that are cleaner," the executive said.
Don't look for any significant changes, Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said Monday.
"It's who you are," Anderson said of Liriano's mechanics. "What you try to do is keep his delivery smooth. He's violent in his delivery, and we want to smooth that out. But as far as changing his arm angle and arm action, you just can't do that.
"At this stage, it's tough to change arm angles and things like that. Obviously, (Liriano) takes it out of his glove different. But (two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan) Santana is unorthodox, too. The key is getting in the right throwing position before he goes home."
Maybe if Liriano were 12 years old, he could change. But he's 24.
"If he were a kid and you're trying to work with proper throwing mechanics, yeah," Anderson said. "But what you do now is you break down his delivery.
#1 - Bad examples of what you infer are good trades
#2 Pantless wonder is right - should have kept him for one more year and gotten some more help.
#3 Liriano will turn into a jerk with Santana gone. Only pitcher he respected. He's a stubborn kid.
Vanilla - regarding #1, are you referring to the Viola, AJ and Knoblauch trades? I would say all three of those worked out pretty well for the Twins.
dave m... The logic regarding the stadium is dead on. But, the manner in which the Twins continue to operate frustrates me to no end.
Granted, the Twins do well as a "Small Market" team... trying to justify the stadium based on this continued approach.
Oh well... crossing my fingures this deal works out like some of the past trading away of stars.
The Pantless Wonder
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