# Yankees and Twins talking about Santana trade



## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

*Yankees and Twins talking about Santana trade* 
By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer 
The Associated Press - Tuesday, November 27, 2007

NEW YORK

The New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins have started trade talks involving Johan Santana.

Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Monday that discussions are ongoing but it was too early to tell whether they would lead to a deal. He did not detail how far talks had progressed.

"I don't want to get into that at this point, as far as what they want, what we're willing to give and all that," he said. "It's preliminary right now."

Santana is eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, and the Twins have been trying to sign the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner to an extension.

Asked whether the Twins had said they would consider a trade, Steinbrenner responded: "Oh, yeah."

The New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers also are thought to be interested in Santana, who is far better than any of the starting pitchers available on the free-agent market.

Santana's agent, Peter Greenberg, has not spoken publicly about his talks with the Twins, who last week lost free-agent center fielder Torii Hunter to the Los Angeles Angels.

Santana, a left-hander who turns 29 in March, has a 93-44 record with a 3.22 ERA in eight major league seasons and is owed $13.25 million next year. Minnesota would want top prospects in any deal and while Steinbrenner previously said he wouldn't trade some of the Yankees' top young pitchers for third baseman Miguel Cabrera, he didn't rule out a deal for a pitcher.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he has received repeated inquiries from teams about Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy.

Santana has a no-trade provision in his contract, and a team acquiring him likely would want to discuss an extension. That means if the teams agreed to a trade, there probably would be a 72-hour window to work out a new contract.

After reaching agreements to re-sign Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Jose Molina - deals that are awaiting completion - Steinbrenner said the Yankees have turned their attention to relievers. Cashman has said the team hopes to keep Luis Vizcaino.

"Obviously, I think the big thing for us now is shoring up the bullpen all that we can," Steinbrenner said. "Brian is looking into several different things."

Steinbrenner said Rodriguez likely will take a physical this week.


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## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

Unreal :eyeroll: Hunters gone now santana? Who is going to be the face of this franchise mauer? Don't get me wrong i love mauer, but i really doubt he is the leader type. but how the heck would i know.

It is interesting, if they would offer phil hughes or jorba chamberlin, both have POTENTIAL santana stuff. I have also heard twins have looked at melky cabrera, and or robinson cano in the deal.

With mets if have heard, although i doubt its true, they would offer up jose reyes, lastings millage, and mike pelfery(promising young pitcher)

Rex Sox- Have talked about several prospects, a couple young pitchers and that young centerfielder that took coco crisps job

I have heard rumors about a delmon young for matt garza trade also.

How bout we keep both, get liriano healthy, Sign a vet 3B and DH and go into the season knowing we may not put up alot of runs(what else is new) but gosh darn if we don't have the best pitching staff in the majors.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

From what I've seen.....Santana will get around $150 million.No way can the Twins afford that.They got nothing for Hunter.....trade Santana before it happens again.

As long as there is no real hard cap in baseball.....the haves will do this everytime.It's just the way it is.Which is why a lot of us prefer watching football to baseball.At least there everyone has a chance,even a backwoods place like Green Bay. oke:


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## jgat (Oct 27, 2006)

Anybody wonder why Terry Ryan resigned?


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

jgat said:


> Anybody wonder why Terry Ryan resigned?


To many migraines????


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

Ryan did not want to deal with this off season......signing hunter, santana, silva, getting a mornoe deal ready for next year (he will want some big busck if he preforms again.)

I hate to see santana go but we need to get something for him. It can't be another hunter situation.

The one thing that bothers me is that who will be the "Face of the Twins" for the new stadium. I know people like Mauer. I do to, but he is not a superstar. He is a player that hits for average. He does not have the power numbers. Power numbers puts people in the stands. Power pitchers put people in the stands (santana). This could be a real interesting off season.

I don't like to sound gloom and doom but I am preparing myself for some rough years ahead like the mid to late 90's.


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Signing Santana isn't realistic for the Twins. Ken is right....this is what you get without a salary cap system like the NFL's. I hope the Twins trade Santana to a NL team this winter.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

If Santana is traded......look for Joe Nathan to follow out the door.He also will be a free agent in 2008.With Mariano Rivera signing for $45 million for 3 years and Nathan only making about $6 million......he is due a big increase.

Should be able to get some pretty good players for those 2.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

The Los Angeles Angels have joined the New York Yankees in pursuit of Johan Santana, and can the rest of the usual suspects - the Red Sox, Mets and Dodgers - be far behind?

Though their top priority is acquiring a big bat, the Angels, according to Los Angeles Times baseball sources, have inquired about Santana, for whom the Twins are fielding offers.

Tuesday's trade buzz:

ANGELS

Los Angeles almost certainly would have to send one of its top young pitchers - Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders or Ervin Santana, and possibly top prospect Nick Adenhart - to Minnesota. The Twins are looking for a third baseman, a center fielder and a pitcher in return. They covet Angels third-base prospect Brandon Wood, but the Angels are reluctant to trade him. Minnesota is believed to have some interest in center fielder Gary Matthews Jr., who was drafted by the Twins out of high school, and outfielder Reggie Willits. Matthews, however, has a no-trade clause.

YANKEES

It has been made clear to the Yankees that the Twins place more value on Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes than on fellow pitcher Ian Kennedy, and that a center fielder most likely must be part of any deal because they lost Torii Hunter to free agency. The Yankees, in turn, consider Chamberlain and second baseman Robinson Cano players they will not easily give up.

RED SOX

The names that figure to come up most by the Twins are pitchers Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, and center fielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp. The Boston Globe reported that talks appear to be intensifying between the Twins and Red Sox over Crisp, who could be coming to Minnesota regardless of whether Santana goes to Boston.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Here is a New YorK columnist opinion of whether the Yanks should get Santana at any cost......

Yankees can't let Red Sox get Santana
Wallace Matthews 
10:25 PM EST, November 28, 2007

There are a bunch of excellent reasons why the Yankees should stifle the urge to acquire Johan Santana -- their spotty history of signing highly touted starting pitchers to lucrative free-agent contracts, the terrible cost in young talent it would require to get him here, the possibility that as tough as everyone says Santana is, he may just not have the internal wiring to thrive in New York, and the reality that as great as he has been, Santana, like all pitchers, is always one bad delivery from a date with the orthopedic surgeon.

And then there is one compelling reason for why they damned well better get him, at whatever the cost (short of Joba Chamberlain, of course): If they don't, he might just wind up with the Red Sox.

That, of course, would be disaster, and the end of baseball as we have come to know it around here. If Santana goes to Boston, the Yankees go to second place in the American League East for the rest of George Steinbrenner's life, and maybe Hank Steinbrenner's, too. It's as simple as that.

Which of the following young Yankees players would you be most reluctant to trade?No matter how many home runs Alex Rodriguez hits, no matter how many hitters Chamberlain freezes, no matter how many great years Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada have left in them and no matter how much further Robby Cano, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy develop, the Yankees will never overcome a team on which Josh Beckett is the No. 2 starter.

For that reason alone, the Yankees have to re-think their position on Hughes, Kennedy, Cabrera and Cano. The name of the game now is keepaway, and the Yankees had better master it in a hurry. Santana can go to the Dodgers or the Mets or the Angels or the Cubs, but under no circumstances can he be allowed to set foot in Fenway Park except as the enemy.

And the only way the Yankees can guarantee that is by going after Santana as hard as he goes after a hitter.

They can't afford to gamble that the Red Sox will uphold their own position, namely that centerfield phenom Jacoby Ellsbury is their Joba, the One Who Cannot Be Touched. If they are thinking straight in Boston, and they usually are, adding Santana to their rotation would drop a lid on the Yankees' coffin for years to come. Ellsbury certainly can be replaced -- if not with Coco Crisp, then Aaron Rowand is waiting for the phone to ring -- but a rotation of Santana, Beckett, Matsuzaka and Whoever can't be matched.

That is why it is imperative that whoever is running the Yankees these days makes sure it doesn't happen. Yeah, they were burned on Carl Pavano and Javier Vazquez and Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright, and they, along with everyone else, have seen how well it worked out for other teams to give big-money, long-term deals to the likes of Mike Hampton and Jason Schmidt and Barry Zito.

But Santana has a chance to turn out differently, to be one of the few big-ticket pitchers actually worth the money and the years, and they would be wise to assume the worst, that if he goes to Boston, he will be. Better to take the chance on him here than to watch him destroy your chances up there.

Indications are the Yankees are thinking along the same lines. An organizational source told me yesterday they would now consider parting not just with Kennedy or Hughes, but Kennedy and Hughes plus Cabrera, if that's what it takes. In that case, the Yankees would pursue Rowand to replace him in center.

"With Hank in charge, the feeling is we've got to win now," the source said. "We've got to show our fans we're not waiting around, that we're committed to winning right away."

That means adding Santana to the mix. Right now, the starter for Opening Day 2008 is Chien-Ming Wang, and you don't want to see Day 2. Sticking Santana at the top of the rotation, followed by Wang, Andy Pettitte (hopefully) and Chamberlain in the No. 4 spot puts the Yankees right back in contention.

"We got some good young pitchers in 'A' ball right now that might make us forget all about Hughes and Kennedy," the source said. "Melky? See ya later. You can always find a centerfielder. There ain't too many Santanas out there."

If there's one on the Red Sox, that will be one too many for the Yankees. For that reason alone, this is one bidding war the Yankees can't afford to lose


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

This can only help the Twins......the team that will get Santana is the one who eventually breaks and throws in one of their "untouchables."


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

Sweet article...thanks for posting


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

I think he is right.....this rotation would for be tough for anyone even the Yankees to beat.......

Santana, Beckett, Matsuzaka


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

"It's been decided: the Yanks will put Hughes in their offer. John Harper and Bill Madden feel that it was Brian Cashman who needed convincing. Cabrera remains in the package, which will be rounded out by an additional pitching prospect. This collection of youngsters apparently puts the Yankees in the lead for Santana."

If this is the way it winds up.....

Hughes.....21 year old starting pitcher

Cabrera.....23 year old starting center fielder

The Twins will be really young with great potential and an awesome outfield.Young,Cabrera,and Cuddy......great arms and good solid hitters.And a very young pitching staff.All starters under 25 yrs. old.

They are definitley looking at 2010 and the new stadium.


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Yankees ramp up the pressure
New York has suddenly given the Twins a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum about their offer for Johan Santana.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: December 02, 2007 - 10:38 PM

The Twins entered the winter meetings refusing to be rushed into any decision to trade Johan Santana, but the New York Yankees and Santana could be trying to force their hand.
Yankees Senior Vice President Hank Steinbrenner told the Associated Press on Sunday that his team would likely withdraw from the trade talks today if the Twins don't agree to a package that is believed to include Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera and a midlevel prospect.

Also, FoxSports.com reported that Santana has notified the Twins he won't waive his no-trade clause during the season, a move that would seem designed to spur a trade soon.

Santana's agent, Peter Greenberg, did not return a text message seeking confirmation of the FoxSports.com report, and Twins General Manager Bill Smith declined to comment.

Earlier, Smith said via text message, "Nothing to report today."

Smith and his top lieutenants were holed up in meetings at Nashville's Opryland Hotel when Steinbrenner issued his ultimatum.

"I'm not going to be played against the Red Sox," he told the AP. "That's not something the Yankees should ever do, and that's what I think [the Twins are] trying to do now.

"So if they want the best offer that has been offered to them, then they need to make up their minds."

The Yankees could turn their attention toward trading for another pitcher, such as Oakland's Dan Haren.

Santana has a no-trade clause, giving him considerable control over this situation. He is under contract for $13.25 million next season and already has rejected a four-year, $80 million extension offer from the Twins.

There are indications Santana is prepared to ask for a six-year, $150 million contract extension from any team that trades for him.

By notifying the Twins he won't approve a trade during the season, he would effectively force them to take the best offer they can get now or risk losing him to free agency, as they recently did with Torii Hunter.

Besides the Yankees, the Twins also have discussed a Santana trade with the Red Sox, Mets, Angels and Mariners. But the Yankees and Red Sox -- noted archrivals -- have been considered the favorites to land Santana.

The Red Sox reportedly indicated they would trade center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and pitcher Jon Lester -- but not both. Similarly, the Yankees reportedly have refused to part with top prospects Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson in the same package as Hughes and Cabrera.

Steinbrenner didn't set a specific deadline for the Twins to accept the Yankees' offer. But he didn't mince words.

"This is not an act," he said. "It's not a bluff. It's just reality.

"Because as much as I want Santana, and you can make that clear -- for his sake, to know that I do want him -- the fact is that I'm not going to play the game."

A Yankees pullout could hurt the Twins' leverage, since other teams have shown a reluctance to give up talent to the Twins before negotiating the hefty pay raise for Santana.

"We've made [the Twins] the best offer," Steinbrenner said. "And at this point, it's not going to get any better. So they can decide. At this point, it's up to them.

"I don't think they want to lose us in this thing, obviously. Nobody wants to lose the Yankees in a negotiation."

Joe Christensen • [email protected]


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## HUNTNFISHND (Mar 16, 2004)

Yeah, Just like they said they wouldn't negotiate with A-Rod if he opted out. :roll:


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