Hank Steinbrenner (heretofore “Little Stein,”) is doing his best to channel his old Dad. (Old as in 20-30 years ago.)
His latest trick is confirming that the Yankees and Twins have started talking Johan Santana. Little Stein on whether the Twins are willing to cut a deal: “Oh, yeah.”
The big question is: What will it cost in players? My guess: A Melky/Cano-type vet, a member of the Big Three (Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy), a top lesser-known pitching prospect (Alan Horne, Humberto Sanchez, Steven White, Dan McCutchen), and a low-A prospect, ranging from someone we’ve never heard of to, say, Jose Tabata or Austin Jackson. (If you have a burning desire to learn about the Yankees prospects, I recommend the excellent SWB Yankees Blog.)
Of course there’s a lot of room to maneuver in those parameters. A Cano-Chamberlain-Horne-Jackson package is a far cry from Melky-Hughes-White-NoName. My guess? Melky-Hughes-Tabata-NoName.
My favorite aside, from LoHud Yankees blog:
The irony of this is that Twins owner Carl Pohlad is wealthier than the Steinbrenners. If he wanted, he could keep Santana. But it so far doesn’t appear he wants to.
Misers shouldn’t be allowed to own baseball teams.
Oh and: I’m also betting that the Twins don’t trade Santana until the summer.
November 27th, 2007
Melky-Hughes-White-NoName or Melky-Hughes-Tabata-NoName are probably REASONABLE deals, but being that it’s (a) the Twins, dealing with (b) the Yanks, and (c) the Yanks reputation for “selling the farm,” I’d bet the Twins are/would be at least ASKING for Cabrera/Cano and TWO of Hughes/Chamberlain/Kennedy, plus a throw-in/low-prospect or even one from your C-list.
Whether the Yanks can get away from going “all-in” on that big a deal remains to be seen. I’ll bet somebody does, at some point… after the 08 season begins.
November 27th, 2007
I agree completely with your last 2 sentences, Rob.
I’ve read it reported many times that the Twins rookie GM is loathe to base his legacy on what he can get in trade for Johan so early on the job. While it may be a better baseball move for Minnesota to get as much as they can for Santana now, it’s perhaps a better P.R. move to either trade him mid-season if the team is in the tank or to even get simply two compensatory draft picks at the end of the year when he signs as a free agent elsewhere.
However, if the Twins get an offer from the Yankees that gives them pieces they can use to contend in the coming years, then worrying about the public relations hit trading Santana will bring is short-sighted and not in the best long-term interests of the club. Where would the Sox be if Theo Epstein hadn’t had the brass balls to trade Nomar Garciapparra for two players that weren’t even on the club the following season?
If I were in Terry Ryan’s shoes, I’d roll the dice if I got the deal I wanted and I’d move Santana. Fans will forgive you if you win and if you don’t win, well you probably shouldn’t have your job anyways. How Ryan does with this Santana situation, especially after recently losing Torii Hunter to the Angels, should give us a good indication if the small market (but deep-pocketed) Twins will continue to contend or if they’ll fall back and become the Pittsburgh of the AL Central.