Santana for Reyes make sense?
posted: Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Johan Santana is willing to waive his no-trade clause if the Twins want to deal him, writes La Velle Neal.
If the Twins look to deal him, the Angels and Dodgers and Diamondbacks might have the best collection of prospects from which to make trades. In the aftermath of the Mets' collapse, here's another thought -- Minnesota could ask for Jose Reyes in a deal, offering Santana, shortstop Jason Bartlett in return for Reyes and outfielder Carlos Gomez and at least one pitcher (Mike Pelfrey?).
Pure speculation, but it makes a lot of sense for both sides to have the conversation -- the Mets would get the kind of staff ace they need, the Twins could benefit in a big way from landing Reyes, who is already locked up to an affordable multiyear deal (he'll make a total of $18.75 million over the next three seasons, and has an $11 million option for 2011). If the team trades Santana and lands the affordable contract of Reyes, Minnesota would have enough money to re-sign Torii Hunter.
Before the Twins get to that point, of course, they should make their best possible pitch to sign Santana, and if he says no and seems headed for free agency, than they should talk to the Dodgers, Angels, Mets and any other interested team. If they did work out a Reyes trade, this is what the top of their lineup could look like next year:
SS Reyes
LF Gomez
C Joe Mauer
RF Michael Cuddyer
1B Justin Morneau
CF Torii Hunter
DH TBD
3B TBD
2B Alexi Casilla
The Twins would have a team in place that could contend next year, if Francisco Liriano were to come back and be a factor. Joe Mauer soon will learn if he needs hernia surgery. Liriano remains on schedule from elbow surgery, writes Joe Christensen.
This makes sense for the Mets because they would have the young ace pitcher they desperately need -- but the Mets or any other team should insist, before making any deal, that they be given a negotiating window to talk with Santana about his next contract.
Reyes and a lower level prospect for Santana, OK. I don't think I could do Reyes&Pelfrey&Gomez for Santana.
BTW, Bartlett's career stats, from espen:
Batting
Year G/AB Avg/HR/RBI BB/K
2004 8/12 .083/0/1 1/1
2005 74/224 .241/3/16 21/37
2006 99/333 .309/2/32 22/46
2007 140/51 .265/5/43 50/73
He's been with Minny his whole career. He also had 10 SB in '06 and 23 in '07
2 comments:
I think I probably agree that Reyes + Gomez + Pelf (or Reyes + any two of our top chip prospects) is probably too much for santana. Reyes has already proven himself to be a top level player, and has the potential to be a legit superstar. The mets should only trade him if teams are willing to accept that. I think reyes + one prospect is legit for santana, who clearly voiced his opinion that he doesn't want to be with twins (and he'd want it even less considering $$ he could get from NY or open market in '08). I also agree with Olney though that if we trade for santana, we have to be able to sign him into a deal beyond '08. Just getting him guaranteed for next year is not good enough.
If we get rid of reyes, and don't go for broke with a-rod (seems unlikely), we need to find legit offense somewhere else in the lineup. not sure where we'll find that. If we pick up Torii as FA do twins hate us so much that they won't deal santana to us? Could there be any trades with ATL or Philly (Teixeira, Howard, Utley, ...), or will all these teams be unwilling to simply swap partners with NL East?
You are getting the guy who is widely considered the best SP in MLB, for a guy who is clearly not in the top 3 SS in league right now, though probably top 5. So one could understand the Twins wanting to get two prospects back plus Reyes. I just don't know if I'd have the stomach to give them up. Milledge & Pelf are ML ready. Humber & Gomez are not, IMHO. So maybe one from each category I could stomach, if we're getting a starting SS back.
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