Man Do I have Timing or what?? I said last week I was going to talk about Johan Santana, then late this week the Mets go and pull off a trade for him. Interestingly enough, a lot of experts believe the Mets got the deal because the Yankees walked away and the Red Sox lost interest and I personally would have to agree with that sentiment. Truth be told the Mets should be counting their lucky stars this week, because in the end the Twins got Greedy and Impatient and it cost them big. Now don’t’ get me wrong the Mets gave up 4 prospects to get Santana and they were pretty good prospects for the most part. But if you go back and look at what the Yankees and the Red Sucks where willing to give up to get Santana you have to start wondering how drunk the Twins GM was when he finally agreed to this deal with the Mets. In terms of over all value both the Sucks and Yankees were offering A LOT more, yet the Twins kept turning them down asking for more. Lets break this down shale we.
The Yankees were offering Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and two other prospects. Melky has two seasons, 1024 AB and 286 games under his belt in the majors. He has led the league in OF assists 2 years in a row, and is a virtual spark plug in the Yankee offense. Hughs has been the Yankees number one prospects for the last 2 years, nearly pitched a No hitter in only his second Major League outing. He was brought into a pressure filled MUST WIN playoff game and was phenomenal. The Twins in this deal were getting two MAJOR LEAGUE READY IMPACT players that were barely in their twenties plus TWO other prospects that would likely be in the majors this year or next.The Sucks took things a step further. They offered Coco Crisp, John Lester, and Two Prospects or behind DOOR #2 was the Jacoby Elsebury, John Lester, and 2 Prospects offer that was also on the table. In the First deal Crisp although a bust in Boston is a well established Major League CF, with a decent bat and glove. A Change of scenery would and probably eventually will do him some good. Lester is a top 
prospect with at least a full season under his belt. He missed half of this season and half of last because of Cancer. Don’t let that fool you thou the kid, has a lot of talent and is likely to be an impact player for the sucks one way or another. In the Second deal, Elsebury has 2 and a half months of major League experience under his belt a month of that is in the playoffs were he played a major part in the Sucks offense. Between his speed and his batting skills combined with a very good glove this kid could be and likely is the real deal. In Both deals offered the Sucks were giving up 2 players that were YOUNG, had the ability to make an IMPACT on the Twins roster, and obviously were major league ready. The Remaining two prospects would likely be ready to play in the majors this year or at the latest next.
Now what the Mets gave up to get Santana in the end value wise was much much less. Carlos Gomez has only played in 52 MLB games, and total 125 AB, Philip Humber has a grand total of 6 MLB games under his belt only 1 of which he has started.
Both are considered good Prospects neither can be consider players that are likely to make an impact on the Twins this year. They might very well do that but it is less likely, because so far they have really not done much in the majors up to this point. This year will be a development season for them and they will either perform or need more time. Basically nobody can say either of these two are ready for the Majors because hey haven’t seen enough of the Majors. The Remaining two prospects the Mets gave up are Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra, both are considered decent prospects neither are expected to see the majors for the next year or two and when they do both are seen as back of the rotation guys if not eventual bull pen fodder. Their not bad prospects, they are all young cheap and have talent. But when you compare what the Twins WANTED from the Yankees and Sucks and what they eventually agreed to take the price tags just don’t’ match up.
What really blows me away is that after turning down the above deals from the Sucks AND the Yankees the twins went and made this deal when truthfully they would have been better off waiting for July. Why you might ask well let me explain. First of all come July a lot of teams will not be wondering about who in the roster is going to have a break out season, which rookie is
really ready for the Majors, and they KNOW who is injured and likely not coming back before the end of August. Add that to the Pennant races where you will have the usual suspects (Yankees, Red Sucks, Cardinals ect; ect.) but also many teams that nobody realy saw coming. Case in point in the NL west you have the Dodgers, who are expected to be in the thick of the race but has a pitching staff that’s older then the great Pyramids. A young Lefthander that could very well walk away with the NL Cy young would be a HUGE boost to them in July if their close in the Division race. Then there are the Padres, the team that lost out on the playoffs thanks to the Rockies this year. They have a STRONG young team with Jake Peavy to anchor their Staff. Imagine if they added Santana at the end of July?? Not only would it give them a HUGE boost toward winning their division, but it would give them one hell of a 1-2 punch going into the playoffs. Then there is the Diamondbacks last years NL West winners who 
already made waves picking up Dan Haren this off season. Imagine if they made this trade in July, bringing Santana to the Desert now sporting a Rotation of Web, Haren, and Santana for the second half of the season. That’s just the NL West. Now imagine the teams in the rest of the NL in July would be looking seriously at adding an Ace to their team for a serious playoff push. The list would include the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Possibly St Louis, and even Cincinnati. Then there is the Al besides the Yankees and Red Sucks you can’t count out the Angels, Tigers, Blue Jays, Indians, or the A’s for that matter. A lot of people would point out that most if not all of these teams likely would shy away from Santana because of his contract demands. Thing is thou most teams would be simply looking at getting him to get to the Playoffs and eventually the WS. How many big deals have we seen go down where a guys was traded with the team knowing full well they likely won’t be able to keep him when the season ends. To make the playoffs and go deep in them teams are willing to take that chance especially in July. At that point Santana would be better off waiting till the end of the season to garner a new contract, because if he is brought into any team and IMPROVES it, then the contract he will get in the off season will only get bigger. Then add more to that contract if they make the playoffs and Santana comes up big. Hell even if he is simply ok making the playoffs raises his contract even more. In the end Santana would. Have gotten a MONSTER deal had he been traded in July and waited to be a FA. Also the Twins would have gotten a MUCH better return because they would have had more teams in the mix for Santana, and teams would be willing to take 
Santana if nothing more then to bolster there Playoff chances. It is part of the game, that gambles are made more in July then they are in the off season. Why?? Well because from December to the end of May EVERY MLB TEAM believes they can win it all in the upcoming season. Yea most are out of their minds but you have to remember most teams will sign a proven FA and keep their prospects before they will make a blockbuster trade. Most teams want to see if what they have NOW will work for them before their willing to trade it away for a sure thing. More importantly most winter trades don’t’ pan out. July trades thou have a much higher success rates because most teams know exactly what their getting in return. Look at the Sucks last year. They traded for Gage-Me and he was having a GREAT year for the Rangers. He came to Boston and STUNK for them. The point here is in the winter most teams are not willing to take a chance for a sure thing. In July however most teams have to make that decision because most of their off season questions have been answered. A few new questions have come up and GM’s have very little time to find an answer before their team hits the point of no return in a playoff race.
prospect with at least a full season under his belt. He missed half of this season and half of last because of Cancer. Don’t let that fool you thou the kid, has a lot of talent and is likely to be an impact player for the sucks one way or another. In the Second deal, Elsebury has 2 and a half months of major League experience under his belt a month of that is in the playoffs were he played a major part in the Sucks offense. Between his speed and his batting skills combined with a very good glove this kid could be and likely is the real deal. In Both deals offered the Sucks were giving up 2 players that were YOUNG, had the ability to make an IMPACT on the Twins roster, and obviously were major league ready. The Remaining two prospects would likely be ready to play in the majors this year or at the latest next.Now what the Mets gave up to get Santana in the end value wise was much much less. Carlos Gomez has only played in 52 MLB games, and total 125 AB, Philip Humber has a grand total of 6 MLB games under his belt only 1 of which he has started.
Both are considered good Prospects neither can be consider players that are likely to make an impact on the Twins this year. They might very well do that but it is less likely, because so far they have really not done much in the majors up to this point. This year will be a development season for them and they will either perform or need more time. Basically nobody can say either of these two are ready for the Majors because hey haven’t seen enough of the Majors. The Remaining two prospects the Mets gave up are Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra, both are considered decent prospects neither are expected to see the majors for the next year or two and when they do both are seen as back of the rotation guys if not eventual bull pen fodder. Their not bad prospects, they are all young cheap and have talent. But when you compare what the Twins WANTED from the Yankees and Sucks and what they eventually agreed to take the price tags just don’t’ match up.What really blows me away is that after turning down the above deals from the Sucks AND the Yankees the twins went and made this deal when truthfully they would have been better off waiting for July. Why you might ask well let me explain. First of all come July a lot of teams will not be wondering about who in the roster is going to have a break out season, which rookie is
really ready for the Majors, and they KNOW who is injured and likely not coming back before the end of August. Add that to the Pennant races where you will have the usual suspects (Yankees, Red Sucks, Cardinals ect; ect.) but also many teams that nobody realy saw coming. Case in point in the NL west you have the Dodgers, who are expected to be in the thick of the race but has a pitching staff that’s older then the great Pyramids. A young Lefthander that could very well walk away with the NL Cy young would be a HUGE boost to them in July if their close in the Division race. Then there are the Padres, the team that lost out on the playoffs thanks to the Rockies this year. They have a STRONG young team with Jake Peavy to anchor their Staff. Imagine if they added Santana at the end of July?? Not only would it give them a HUGE boost toward winning their division, but it would give them one hell of a 1-2 punch going into the playoffs. Then there is the Diamondbacks last years NL West winners who 
already made waves picking up Dan Haren this off season. Imagine if they made this trade in July, bringing Santana to the Desert now sporting a Rotation of Web, Haren, and Santana for the second half of the season. That’s just the NL West. Now imagine the teams in the rest of the NL in July would be looking seriously at adding an Ace to their team for a serious playoff push. The list would include the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Possibly St Louis, and even Cincinnati. Then there is the Al besides the Yankees and Red Sucks you can’t count out the Angels, Tigers, Blue Jays, Indians, or the A’s for that matter. A lot of people would point out that most if not all of these teams likely would shy away from Santana because of his contract demands. Thing is thou most teams would be simply looking at getting him to get to the Playoffs and eventually the WS. How many big deals have we seen go down where a guys was traded with the team knowing full well they likely won’t be able to keep him when the season ends. To make the playoffs and go deep in them teams are willing to take that chance especially in July. At that point Santana would be better off waiting till the end of the season to garner a new contract, because if he is brought into any team and IMPROVES it, then the contract he will get in the off season will only get bigger. Then add more to that contract if they make the playoffs and Santana comes up big. Hell even if he is simply ok making the playoffs raises his contract even more. In the end Santana would. Have gotten a MONSTER deal had he been traded in July and waited to be a FA. Also the Twins would have gotten a MUCH better return because they would have had more teams in the mix for Santana, and teams would be willing to take 
Santana if nothing more then to bolster there Playoff chances. It is part of the game, that gambles are made more in July then they are in the off season. Why?? Well because from December to the end of May EVERY MLB TEAM believes they can win it all in the upcoming season. Yea most are out of their minds but you have to remember most teams will sign a proven FA and keep their prospects before they will make a blockbuster trade. Most teams want to see if what they have NOW will work for them before their willing to trade it away for a sure thing. More importantly most winter trades don’t’ pan out. July trades thou have a much higher success rates because most teams know exactly what their getting in return. Look at the Sucks last year. They traded for Gage-Me and he was having a GREAT year for the Rangers. He came to Boston and STUNK for them. The point here is in the winter most teams are not willing to take a chance for a sure thing. In July however most teams have to make that decision because most of their off season questions have been answered. A few new questions have come up and GM’s have very little time to find an answer before their team hits the point of no return in a playoff race.In the end I’m glad the Yankees did not trade for Santana. Giving up Melky would have killed our offense, and would have weakened us in CF. Loosing Phill Hughs would have hurt the team as well. Santana would have been a boost but Hughs is a number 3 starter with the ability to be a 
number one starter at some point. Loosing both players would have hurt the Yankees with out a doubt. Then add to it the money we would have had to shell out to keep Santana. Sure the first 2 years would be great, but at some point Satan was going to have an injury season. EVERYBODY has one, and a lot of players never survive it. Hughs at 21 is likely to have an injury season but not at least for another 4 to 5 years. The same can be said of Melky who is also 21 and just starting to show off his true value to the Yankees in the field AND at the plate. I’m glad we did not trade for Santana simply because we have been down this road too much in the past 5 years. Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson were two guys that were sure thing trades the Yankees made and they both blew up in our face. Brown worse then Johnson but to be honest neither ever came close to meeting expectations. Then there is the Free Agents we have signed, Giambi, Mussina and Farnsworth were all brought in to help the Yankees win a WS. NONE of them have done this and the Yankees haven’t even seen the second round of the Playoffs since 2005, and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED on Carol Pavano. My point here is the Yankees have been going out and getting the big names and it has produced nothing but nightmares. All they got was a bunch of guys that either, burst into flames, become PR nightmares, never produce like they were expected to, or simply get injured the entire length of their monster contract. Simply put going after the BIG 
NAME sure things has NOT WORKED. It’s time to try something different, it is TIME the Yankees mixed in some youth and brought in their own talent rather then over paying for a NAME only to have it blowup in there faces. The Yankees have made a commitment to their farm system starting last year when Cashmen restocked our farm and we have seen the fruits of that work already in Joba, Kenedy, Melky, Cano, and Wang just to name a few. These kids are just getting started and most of them have a very bright future ahead of them. Many fans feel that this is a mistake that the Yankees don’t grow their own talent. I mean players are not plants. Nope, the Yankees go out and trade everything for nothing or beg for free agents to join the ranks of Yankees. We need to invest in our future. So let’s start by teaching potential talent the ways of the Yankee and keep a loyal crew not a money hungry Name. The last group of home grown Yankees included the names of Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera just to name a few. As a young core of players-they did nothing special really right??. I mean all they did was win 4 WS form 1996 to 2000, won the AL East 10 years in a row, and have averaged anywhere form 90 to 100+ wins a season form 1996 to present. Just IMAGINE what this next young crop of home grown Yankees will do.
Next week I’m talking about the Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens and the Congressional Hearings that will be taking place in the up coming weeks. So!
Until Next Week
number one starter at some point. Loosing both players would have hurt the Yankees with out a doubt. Then add to it the money we would have had to shell out to keep Santana. Sure the first 2 years would be great, but at some point Satan was going to have an injury season. EVERYBODY has one, and a lot of players never survive it. Hughs at 21 is likely to have an injury season but not at least for another 4 to 5 years. The same can be said of Melky who is also 21 and just starting to show off his true value to the Yankees in the field AND at the plate. I’m glad we did not trade for Santana simply because we have been down this road too much in the past 5 years. Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson were two guys that were sure thing trades the Yankees made and they both blew up in our face. Brown worse then Johnson but to be honest neither ever came close to meeting expectations. Then there is the Free Agents we have signed, Giambi, Mussina and Farnsworth were all brought in to help the Yankees win a WS. NONE of them have done this and the Yankees haven’t even seen the second round of the Playoffs since 2005, and DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED on Carol Pavano. My point here is the Yankees have been going out and getting the big names and it has produced nothing but nightmares. All they got was a bunch of guys that either, burst into flames, become PR nightmares, never produce like they were expected to, or simply get injured the entire length of their monster contract. Simply put going after the BIG 
NAME sure things has NOT WORKED. It’s time to try something different, it is TIME the Yankees mixed in some youth and brought in their own talent rather then over paying for a NAME only to have it blowup in there faces. The Yankees have made a commitment to their farm system starting last year when Cashmen restocked our farm and we have seen the fruits of that work already in Joba, Kenedy, Melky, Cano, and Wang just to name a few. These kids are just getting started and most of them have a very bright future ahead of them. Many fans feel that this is a mistake that the Yankees don’t grow their own talent. I mean players are not plants. Nope, the Yankees go out and trade everything for nothing or beg for free agents to join the ranks of Yankees. We need to invest in our future. So let’s start by teaching potential talent the ways of the Yankee and keep a loyal crew not a money hungry Name. The last group of home grown Yankees included the names of Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera just to name a few. As a young core of players-they did nothing special really right??. I mean all they did was win 4 WS form 1996 to 2000, won the AL East 10 years in a row, and have averaged anywhere form 90 to 100+ wins a season form 1996 to present. Just IMAGINE what this next young crop of home grown Yankees will do.Next week I’m talking about the Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens and the Congressional Hearings that will be taking place in the up coming weeks. So!
Until Next Week
The Yankee Fan
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