Being an avid Twins fan, I'm distraught over the possible trade packages that are being rumored. It looks like the Twins are going to get screwed. They should not even consider a deal not including Ellsbury w/ the Red Sox, Hughes/Chamberlain w/ the Yankees, or Reyes w/ the Mets. This guy is the best pitcher in the game! It just seems like these big market teams are trying to take advantage of the little guy and the new Twins GM needs to show that he's got a pair and stick to his guns on this deal. Thoughts?
Santana Rumors
- Thread starter leg4cy
- Start date
The Twins need to make sure they get something, anything in return. They are going to get screwed regardless. Santana will be a Free Agent after next season so they lose him and get nothing if they don't trade him for whatever they can get now.
I have said it quite a few times but they NEED to get another team or two interested, particularly one with strong young players such as the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Angels or even the Cubs... The Dodgers seem like the most LOGICAL fit. Right now they have future star young players at C, 1st, ss, 3rd, Cf, and lf, SP and CL. Problem is they also have alot of older talent and not only are they not meshing well but it is stalling the development of the young guys. Not to mention they have a pitching staff comprised of all number 2 starters, they need an ace. I could see them putting together a VERY attractive package for Santana if they get into the dealings...
Of course we're going to get screwed to an extent over this, the point is, how badly do we want to get screwed, and are we all that interested in screwing ourselves?
Santana's first made clear he's seeking a record-breaking contract, second he's hinted (very loudly) that he wants out of Minnesota (especially after trading away what's his name at 2B last year). The point is, when the season's over, he's walking. The question is, do you at least want to get some kind of compensation out of him (filling out various holes in the roster), or do you want to let him walk at the end of the season and get in return a measly two draft picks (at most) that may or may not turn into something down the road? Quite honestly, I'm not all that interested in keeping someone on the team that doesn't want to be here.
As Danny DeVito's character said in the movie The War of the Roses, "There's no winning scenario in this - there's only degrees of losing." I'd rather take the lesser degree of losing by getting what we can out of a trade of Santana then letting him walk and getting next to nothing.
Either the Twins pay up for possibly the best pitcher in the game or they have to get something now before he leaves and they get nothing. All I hope is that he goes somewhere other than the Yankees! I think if they can get Reyes from the Mets that would be the best deal they could do. Reyes is one of the top SS in the game and a dangerous guy on the base paths. They could use a guy like that hitting ahead of Young, Morneu and Mauer.
This I agree with, plus I wouldn't have to hate Santana as the Mets are my other team. I also wouldn't mind seeing him go to the Red Sox or Dodgers, but I really do not want him going to the Yankees.
No way Boston will give you Ellsbury (opinion of mine). I think you are going to get from Boston a deal that has Jon Lester who is a young flame thrower, as a Red Sox fan I hate to give up lester but if it means getting Santana then I am down. Also 3 minor league guys. 1 of them is really good and the other 2 are prospects. My opinion if he goes to Boston.
The Twins are just in an unfair bargaining position. With Terry Ryan, they were praised for their ability to get value in trades, but I don't know what to expect with the new guy. This whole process just makes me detest the Yankees and Red Sox even more.
If the Twins don't get two young stars then they are getting bent over... IF they take Crisp then the new GM is clearly over his head since Crisp will probably get released before the Rule 5 draft anyways... How good would an outfield of D. Young, Matt Kemp, M. Cuuddyer look with an infield of Moneau, Punto/harris, Chin Lung Hu, and Adam LaRoche then have Chad Billingsley anchor your staff...
It'd be great if Liriano returns to form and somehow Baker and Bonser are able to pull their heads out of their collective arses - otherwise this is a team that's going to have to score a LOT of runs on a nightly basis.
Very good assessment of my Dodgers! I agree, they are the most logical team to trade with the Twins (or Marlins for Cabrera for that matter), but Colletti and the McCourts seem to be leaning towards not making any moves and sticking to our youth movement. I'm not sure who the Twins would want, but I would assume they'd want 4 of the following players: Matt Kemp - OF, James Loney - 1B, Andy LaRoche - 3B, Jonathan Broxton - RP, Jon Meloan - SP/RP, Chad Billingsly - SP, or Clayton Kershaw - SP in AA that is being compared to Liariano, but he's still about a year or so away from the majors. I'm undecided on whether getting Santana would be a huge improvement for the Dodgers. I think we'd be creating more holes than filling them if we did a deal like that. But it is Santana and he would definitely help our rotation out. One more thing, if the Red Sox get him, I'll be sick.
EDIT: I forgot about Hu at 2B or SS or Young in the OF, the Twins could want one of those guys too. Sooner or later the Dodgers will need to move some young guys though.
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I think they Dodgers are looking to move Kemp and LaRoche since they were the two main young guys at the heart of the whole dispute last year... I actually think they will use LaRoche as a 'throw in' as Colletti seems to have soured on him this last year. Hu has major talent and nowhere to go with Furcal at SS and the Dodgers seem to love D. Young in the utility role... Martin, Ethier and maybe Loney are Billingsley are close to untouchable but I would imagine Colletti and McCourt would listen to anything involving the other young guys. They are getting ALOT of pressure to win this year so they need to pull out all the stops.
Yeah they were at the heart of the dispute, but one of the key guys in that whole thing is gone...Luis Gonzalez. The other one, Kent, may or may not be back next year, although I think he'll be back. I'd hate to see Kemp go because I think he can be a great player. You're right about Martin being untouchable and maybe Loney. Bills could get traded and Ethier could get traded too as I think the Dodgers see Kemp with more upside and they have Young in waiting too. Also, Furcal I believe is in the final year of his contract so Hu could be a cheap and very talented option at SS for 09. Part of me just wants to see what the kids can do, especially with the success the Diamondbacks and Rockies had this year. I agree though, the Dodgers are getting a lot of pressure to win. If you hire Joe Torre and then do nothing to improve a 4th place team's roster, a lot of people are going to scratch their heads.
The strange thing her is that Loney, Kemp, and LaRoche are NOT guys with bad attitudes... There was just a serious amount of discontention in that locker room, mostly brought on by the vets. Beleive me, I know more about this situation then anything you have read in the media (inside info). Also, DY has already cleared the Rule 5 once but that was before the big year last year. I just don't see Torre managing a team where all the talent is under 25 years old. You can't sit those guys if you keep them because they are all too talented to waste on the bench. You might as well get what you can for them...
I have no horse in this race but if the Dodgers deal 4 of those young guys, I think that'd be a huge mistake. Just when they've finally figured out they can't just buy a World Series (I mean they always seem to have a bunch of older stars that just don't come together for some reason), they then trade away some really good talent that they've invested a lot of time in? Doesn't make sense.
That's sort of what I heard too, but obviously not through media sources, mostly message boards. I heard it was more of a Gonzalez and Kent thing against the young guys. I'll never know for sure though. I've also heard that the young guys didn't have bad attitudes either. I just think we had/ have the wrong kind of vets on our team that weren't really willing to mesh with the yonger talent, just a guess though. Right now I hope we do something with our surplus of young talent without giving it all away because I do want to see our young guys develop and play for us. It's funny to read Dodger message boards because they all agree we need a power bat and another pitcher but none of them are willing to trade any of our young guys.
