Johan Santana is going to be a Met

I have read and heard just about every rumor related to the Twins trading Johan Santana. New Twins GM Bill Smith doesn’t seem to be nervous about the idea of moving him and he’s talking to the big boys (Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox) about a deal.

I’ve broken down stats, read bios, and poured over enough background information on prospects to make the grade as at least an average assistant GM at the major league level. Well…at least on the Wii version of MLB 08.

What have I learned? Mostly, that trading a Cy Young pitcher in the beginning of his prime isn’t necessarily fun, but the Twins could make a haul if they do this correctly.

At this point the best deal out there is coming from the National League and Johan Santana will be wearing a Mets uniform in 2008 and beyond. The Mets are loaded with prospects that the Twins seem to covet -- including outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey.

A month ago the Twins had the luxury of waiting on a Santana deal in hopes that they would be able to get a star player back in return. They wanted a legit major league all star player(s) – somebody who has all the tools and would be ready to play in the big leagues right now. We are less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting for duty and the Twins aren’t going to get a star player in return for Santana. It’s time to take the prospects that the Mets are offering and be done with the speculation.

The Yankees continue to waffle about their willingness to part with Phillip Hughes and for some reason they think they are in the driver’s seat when it comes to making a deal. At this point I think the Red Sox trade offer still makes the most sense, but they won’t part with both pitcher Jon Lester and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the same deal.

Let’s just move on. Ship Johan to the National League and call it a day.