There's still nothing new on the Johan Santana front. Most people believe that if the Twins do in fact trade him, it will happen before the team reports for Spring Training, which is just over a month away.
From everything that I've heard and read, it's the Twins who are currently holding up a deal that could go down with the Mets as the team is carefully choosing if they want major league ready players in return for Santana or more prospects. I doubt that a name such as Jose Reyes is in the talks, as much as I'd like to see that happen, however names such as some of the following are probably being mentioned in some capacity:
- Ryan Church
- Endy Chavez
- Angel Pagan
- Mike Pelfrey
- Phil Humber
- Ruben Gotay
- Joe Smith
- Anderson Hernandez
- Ambiorix Burgos
- Aaron Heilman
The Twins may not want Gotay, however the way I see it, the Twins really only have one "for sure" starting middle infielder in 2009 and that is Brendan Harris. Guys like Trevor Plouffe & Alexi Casilla are viewed as our future in the middle of the diamond, however both have a lot to prove. Adam Everett may not be back with the Twins following this season, and Gotay would be there for the competition in '09. I through Hernandez's name in there because he may interest the Twins since he and Gotay are both stuck behind Luis Casillo & Reyes.
Heiman, Smith & Burgos are two guys that would help our bullpen. Heilman is a guy like Matt Guerrier who could set up as well as pitcher 3 or 4 innings if needed. Burgos has a lot of potential and pitched well for the Mets after he left Kansas City. Smith is another good submarine-type of pitcher that the Twins would have, he's not as effective as Pat Neshek, however most relievers aren't.
I'm a big fan of Church as I feel he gives 110%, 100% of the time. He'd give the Twins a very good center fielder for 2008 and perhaps even longer to allow the other outfielder acquired (I think that at least one of Carlos Gomez & Fernando Martinez are locks to be included). Chavez is another good option for a season in center field, however he was recently injured which may eliminate any chance of him being traded. Pagan was just re-acquired by the Mets after a few years away from the club. There were talks that the Mets were "increasing their inventory" to make a trade, and the re-arrival of Pagan may be the reason. Whether he's in the deal or not, as much as you may not think it, he probably will play a role in a deal in some way.
Between Pelfrey & Humber, I prefer Pelfrey. Reason being is that despite a horrid 2007 season, he still projects higher than Humber and is older than he is. I think Humber is not much different than Nick Blackburn or Brian Duensing of the Twins. So would we really need to acquire him? I think Pelfrey is a lot more attractive in terms of potential success in the future.
I personally would prefer more prospects than ML Ready players, especially since a few of the guys that the Mets may be willing to offer haven't been completely "screwed-up" yet by being rushed along. If we could acquire Gomez, Deolis Guerra & Martinez, we could start Guerra in High-A where he would probably benefit from. Martinez should probably have another 1/2-full season of work in Double-A and Gomez would probably be best off if he played an entire season in Triple-A.
The guys the Mets have as "ML Ready" such as Pelfrey was rushed to the majors and may never be able to adjust properly. I'd still take my chances on him before Humber, however I think that getting a guy such as Kevin Mulvey who hasn't touched the majors yet would probably be a good acquisition.
Now that Mets GM Omar Minaya is back in the United States, I hope that we can move closer to a trade and can get something done, and soon.
Sorry about the rambling. I'm pretty tired and start school again tomorrow.
Tidbits
Anyways, here are a few things that may interest you:
• There are a few things to check out at TwinkieTown.com:
• See who was nominated the #3 "Twins Community Prospect" which is voted on by the readers. Also check out #4, #5, and we're currently on #6. Make sure to vote!
• Also over at Twinkie Town, Roger Dehring did a great job of covering the Twins Minor League Affiliates throughout the season, and now he is giving us a look at each position's depth throughout the minors and where he projects each player to begin the 2007 season. Here's what has done so far:
• Starting Pitchers
• Relief Pitchers
• Catchers
• And speaking of prospects, TopProspectsAlert.com has compiled the Twins top 10 prospects heading into the 2008 season. Check it out!
• Seth Speaks gives us plenty of links to YouTube videos of the players that have been mentioned in some of the trade talks surrounding Santana. Give them a look.
• La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune will be answering a few questions that Tim Dierks of MLBTradeRumors.com has asked him. The name of the series is called "Rumor Royalty" where he asks his most trusted journalist for each team a series of questions over a couple of days. I'm sure you know who's name will be coming up. If he posts anything worth mentioning, I'll definitely post it on here.
• The Twins also signed Zach Day to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. Yawn. Randy Keisler was also signed to a minor league deal. Double Yawn.
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