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Sox, Yankees, Mets to battle for Santana
By Ed Valentine on November 23rd, 2007 8:03 AM |
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The stage is set for the next epic confrontation in the rivalry that never quits — the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees.
This one will be over who gets the services of Minnesota’s Johan Santana, quite possibly baseball’s best pitcher.
The Twins are beginning to realize that it’s highly unlikely they will be able to keep Santana, who can be a free agent at the end of the 2008 season. The sides are more than $30 million apart, and it seems likely they will begin exploring the market for Santana, who is 28 and has a 93-44 lifetime record and 3.22 ERA.
The Yankees, of course, will be involved. They are baseball’s richest team, have a cachet of youngsters to deal, and have a glaring need for a No. 1 pitcher. The Red Sox are also making it known that they want to be involved in the Santana Derby.
For good measure, you can also expect the New York Mets to make a run at Santana. They would likely offer a package centering on outfielder Lastings Milledge and pitcher Mike Pelfrey. I don’t think, though, that the Mets will be able to offer the depth of established players and pitching prospects the Yankees and Red Sox could potentially pony up.
So, Minnesota General Manager Bill Smith can spend the next couple of months playing the two arch-rivals against each other. If he has to trade Santana, which you know is a position he doesn’t want to be in, this is the best scenario he could hope for.
The Red Sox could offer Smith his choice of pitchers like Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, Craig Hansen and Manny Del Carmen. They can offer Jacoby Ellsbury or Coco Crisp to fill the center field hole created in Minnesota by Torii Hunter’s jump to the Angels. If it really wanted to go all out, the Sox could even make Dustin Pedroia available.
The Yankees can offer top pitching prospects Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy, and could allow the Twins to choose from an array of other young pitchers like Russ Ohlendorf, Steven White, Alan Horne, Dellin Betances and several others. New York could make center fielder Melky Cabrera available, or top outfield prospects Brett Gardner and Jose Tabata. The Yankees could even dangle rising star Robinson Cano.
So, the two superpower rivals appear evenly matched in terms of the arsenals each brings to the table in this skirmish. The question will be which team will be willing to dig the deepest to put Santana at the front of their rotation for the next seven or eight years.
Frankly, you would have to believe the Yankees will do whatever it takes. The Red Sox have won two of the last four World Series titles and already have an ace in the prime of his career in Josh Beckett. Along with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Beckett can front the rotation while Buchholz and Lester grow.
The Yankees don’t have that luxury. Especially if Andy Pettitte decided to retire, as currently constructed they will be asking Hughes, Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain to carry more of the load than a team with World Series aspirations should. So, their need is greater.
Several times in recent years the teams competed for pitchers. Both wanted Curt Schilling, but the Yankees ended up with Javier Vazquez. The Sox got Beckett. The Yankees ended up with Carl Pavano, and because of those busts they later tried Randy Johnson.
Those moves led to Boston getting the upper hand in the rivalry.
The battle for Santana is a must-win for the Yankees unless they are willing to cede the advantage to Boston for the next half-dozen years. And, you know they aren’t about to do that.
In the end, I think Hank Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman will give the Twins whatever it takes, and pay Santana whatever he wants, to put baseball’s premier left-hander in pinstripes. They really have no other alternative.
(– Ed Valentine is an award-winning columnist and former Sports Editor of two daily newspapers. His work can be found at Valentine’s Views and Big Blue View.)
There are currently 4 responses to “Sox, Yankees, Mets to battle for Santana”
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Honestly, there’s not a scenario that would surprise me when it comes to this guy. Indeed, if the Sox look like they will make a hard push for Santana, then I can’t imagine the Yanks sitting idly by. Guys like Hughes, Chamberlain, and Kennedy – all supposedly untouchable – will all be throw into the mix if the Sox are willing to part with Ellsbury or Buchholz.
Here’s the kicker though…Why would they do that? The Sox already have a younger ace in Josh Beckett, who also happens to be the best postseason pitcher currently in baseball. They have a ton of money invested in Dice-K, and are counting on getting something more from that money than they have thus far. Remember, Beckett’s first year in Boston was underwhelming, so I believe the front office truly has high hopes for Matsuzaka in ‘08. Then you throw in Lester – winner of the World Series clincher – and Buccholz – no hitter in his third major league start…This is an organization whose fiscal conservatism wouldn’t allow them to budge on 3-year offers to either Johnny Damon or Mike Lowell. Do they really need to invest another 150 million in Johan Santana? With TWO world series titles in four years, no, I just don’t see it. Unless you are going to tell me that they will let Manny walk when he hits free agency and build the team around pitching and papi rather than going out and finding a right handed slugger to replace Ramirez.
In some trade scenarios, you might see a team jump into the bidding in order to entice its rival to surrender more than it would like. however even if a bluff from Boston provoked the Yanks to give up the farm, the Sox can’t claim any victory with Santana in pinstripes. Thus I can’t see the Sox getting heavily involved unless they truly want to put this guy in a Boston uni, and I’m also skeptical that the Yanks will want to surrender their valuable young pitching if they don’t feel a threat from the Sox. Would the Yanks move aggressively just to keep Santana away from the Mets? I don’t think that would bother them as much.
And then there’s the Mets, who make no mistake, are prepared to offer everyone in their system. Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, the much hyped Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey. Throw in Pat Neshek and you can have all six. Why dazzle them with quality when you can overload them with quantity? Better yet, how about we just sign over control of our A-ball teams to the Twins. You can have the lot.
And I don’t believe I’m just saying this because I’m a Mets fan. But if the Sox and Yanks are not prepared to surrendered the Buccholtz and Hughes of the world, and they’re asking you to take guys like Melky Cabrera and Coco Crisp, suddenly the Mets offer doesn’t look so terrible. And wouldn’t you rather ship Santana to the NL if the offers are comparable? There just clearly isn’t the same sort of desperation in Fenway and the Bronx as their currently is in Flushing. You’re gonna have two juggernauts trying to get a bargain discount from a rookie Minnesota GM, and you’re gonna have Omar Minaya offering the keys to the kingdom, basically saying, “Here, take what you like.”
And let’s not forget teams like the Angels and Dodgers, who so far have balked at the 4-player packages the Marlins are seeking for Miguel Cabrera, but whom certainly have the kind of prospects and young talent to get involved in talks for Santana.
Bottom-line, I don’t see this bidding war breaking down as a Sox-Yanks derby. While both could potentially offer the Twins the best package, I’m not convinced they will…in which case teams like the Mets and numerous others across baseball become increasingly likely landing spots for the Minnesota ace.
Well, geez that’s a book, not a comment. LOL!! Anyway, ESPN’s Jayson Stark agrees with you that the Mets might even be the front-runner. I agree with you that I don’t think Boston will go as far as the Yankees would. My thinking with the Yankees is the last 2-3 times this has happened they ended up with the consolation prize, and that has not worked out. I think they will go to the wall here. Whether that is enough, or even a good idea, only time will tell.
btw, personally, i’d prefer Erik Bedard. lower profile, lower cost…similar talent.
Bedard is going to be a great get for somebody. So will Dan Haren from Oakland.