Yankees, Red Sox & Mets all in the running for Santana

Good morning. Yesterday, I touched up on the reports that the Twins were reportedly decreasing their demands from the Yankees and won't require Ian Kennedy to be apart any Johan Santana trade. That specific rumor never really picked up steam, but there was something else that was interesting to note.

Last night, La Velle E. Neal III posted on his blog that the Twins "checked in" with the Red Sox, Yankees and the Mets before the Holiday Break. Nothing really new in the report, besides the fact that the Mets remain in the picture.

Most of the earlier reports have been that the Mets would have to include young shortstop Jose Reyes in any deal involving Santana, but that doesn't seem to be the case any more. It's unknown who the Twins are seriously interested from the Mets, except reports have mentioned outfielders Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez, as well as Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey. I'm not very high on all those guys, but they do have a decent amount of potential. The Mets probably would be reluctant to part with both Martinez and Gomez, and I'm not sure if the Twins would really need to acquire both. One of them will be the center fielder of the future, and the other would have to fight to find a spot to play. Although the Twins shouldn't be shy when it comes to acquiring high-potential bats as our biggest weakness is offense. The other hard part is that neither are really ready for every day jobs yet, but the Twins may move them quickly to fill their void in center field. I personally can't decide which one I'd choose, but I do know that the Mets need to part with 4-5 players total to get a deal done.

Pelfrey, Gomez or Martinez, Mulvey, Deolis Guerra would be a respectable return for Santana.

LEN3 also states that the talks between the Red Sox and Twins are 'dormant'. That's interesting as Boston's designated hitter David Ortiz said Sunday that he doesn't think the Red Sox will land Santana.

"No," Big Papi told the Boston Herald when asked if he thought Sanatana was Boston-bound. "I was (following it) for a minute, but I guess they stopped. They don't want him to go. (Minnesota) already gave Boston too many good things already.

So the reports last week from the Pioneer Press that a deal was supposedly "imminent" and that the Red Sox were the favorites look to have been false.

The Twins would like to get a deal done with Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury, but the Twins may have to lower their demands in that offer as well if they want to get a deal done. But if they don't, and feel they can get both sooner or later (which could happen), then they have every right to hold out for both of them to be included before a deal.

La Velle also said something that I was talking about yesterday, and that was the possibility of adding Kei Igawa to the deal. He said his name has been in talks involving the Yankees and Twins. This makes sense as the Yankees would like to shed some salary as they acquire Santana.

Again, nothing really new (unfortunately), but hopefully we're moving closer to an answer to where Santana will be in 2008.

Have a great day.