Breaking: Twins trade Johan Santana to Mets

by kingcritical on Jan 29, 2008 4:22 PM EST

Per Metsblog, the Mets have acquired Johan Santana from the Twins for Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.

More as it develops.

[Update] USA Today has more. The deal hinges on the a contract extension that the Mets must negotiate in the next 72 hours, or Santana can veto the deal.

[UPDATE @ 4:44pm by Eric]: The Twins shot themselves in the foot by not jumping on a Phil Hughes or John Lester deal, and Twins fans are not happy, to say the least. I think it was a pretty good deal for both teams, given the circumstances. Santana had one year left on his contract, and considering that the Yankees may not have even had an offer on the table anymore and the Sox's interest in Santana was tepid at best, the Twins took the best, possibly only, offer they had.

Of course, they could have just hung on to Santana. One year plus two first rounders might have been nice. Either way, assuming the Mets lock Santana up in the next three days, their starting rotation for 2008 and beyond just got a whole lot better.

[UPDATE @ 5:30pm by Eric]: Philly fans aren't happy, so we can be excited about that, too. Whatever comes of Gomez, Guerra, Humber and Mulvey, those results will be revealed on another day. Today, right now, it's really effing exciting to be a Met fan. Arguably the best pitcher in baseball is coming to Queens, and the would-be 2008 Mets are a whole lot better today than they were a day ago. Pending a contract extension, of course.

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wow

it finally got done. This obviously a good deal for the Mets.

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Jan 29, 2008 4:27 PM EST reply actions

I hate to be a party pooper...

But am I the only one who feels like this is a LOT to give up? (Yes, I recognize that Santana is OMG TEH AWES0M3.) The Yankees and Red Sox were both unwilling to give up their one best pitching prospect and we were like "here, have our best three."

I'd be less of a pessimist if it weren't for that stupid stupid (still stupid) Milledge trade.

by Josh @ Amazin' Avenue on Jan 29, 2008 4:32 PM EST reply actions

yeah, its lot

the twins are only giving us one year of santana. they shouldnt get more prospects just cause we are going to step up and pay him big money. its still pretty cool. humber and gomez i can live without. im a little more worried about Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey but we wont know about those guys for at least a couple years.

by kendynamo on Jan 29, 2008 4:50 PM EST up reply actions

it's santana

you have to give up something good. Gomez I was never in love with, Guerra and Mulvey are interesting but unknowns and Humber is probably a 4.

Keep Lastings Milledge Free

by DoctorK16 on Jan 29, 2008 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

I guess you're right

We're not talking about the bad Zambrano here.

by Josh @ Amazin' Avenue on Jan 29, 2008 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

Agree

You have to give up something to get something. I think it is amazing they did not have include Heilman, Pelfrey or F. Martinez in the deal. Give Omar credit - he was patient and while he gave up a fair amount he didn't give away the store.

I suspect the Red Sox and Yankees are happy with this outcome.

I feel very good about this year. The addition of Santana provides a lot of pitching flexibility including trying Pelfrey in the pen for an inning or two.

by millsy on Jan 29, 2008 6:03 PM EST up reply actions

a lot

Yes, but Hubie Brooks, Herm Winningham, Mike Fitzgerald, and Floyd Youmans was a lot to send Montreal for a certain catcher we all know and love. I don't think any Met fan alive would second-guess that deal.

Reyes and F-Mart are still Mets, and as long as the Mets grant Santana and extension, I'm as happy as can be.

Let's Go Meters in New York!!!

by Greenpoint Ian on Jan 29, 2008 6:17 PM EST up reply actions

I second guess that trade to this day

Hubie was my all-time favorite Met and I cried like a kid (I guess I was one) when they made that trade ...

by CurlyShuffle on Jan 29, 2008 7:21 PM EST up reply actions

holy carp, it finally happened

Thank the baseball gods. This is a completely reasonable deal in every way for the Mets, and in fact I think the Twinkies' management kind of misplayed their hand on this one. If this was really the best they could do at this point, it means they alienated the Red Sox and the Yanks along the way and possibly screwed themselves out of a better bunch of prospects. I think Humber and one of Guerra/Mulvey will be serviceable and cheap for several years for the Twins, and Gomez will end up being their new Cristian Guzman, a guy who never quite hits enough to earn the regular playing time they give him. That's beyond reasonable as a package of prospects for one of the very best pitchers in the majors. Great news!

by anonymous on Jan 29, 2008 4:39 PM EST reply actions

Can you imagine what the new rotation will be?

Any combination of (with Johan/Pedro at 1 and 2 of course):

Johan Santana
Pedro Martinez
Orlando Hernandez
John Maine
Oliver Perez

THAT HAS TO BE THE BEST ROTATION IN BASEBALL RIGHT NOW!

by SeanNY on Jan 29, 2008 5:01 PM EST reply actions

praise jesus

this all came about by NOT SIGNING ZITO

good job Omar!

by lgerard on Jan 29, 2008 5:38 PM EST reply actions

7 Years / $140 Million

the prospects might not be terribly steep but the contract will. The contract will be the toughest part of the deal for the Mets, even for a pitcher this talented. Not saying it's a bad deal, just that all things need to be considered.
vr, Xei

Baseball, it is what it is.

by Xeifrank on Jan 29, 2008 5:41 PM EST reply actions

getting insurance

is going to be tough. i mean the literal insurance coverage.

by kendynamo on Jan 29, 2008 5:51 PM EST up reply actions

Wow

Yankees and Red Sox were actually willing to give up more IMO. This is strange.

At least we got to keep Martinez. I am worried a little about that 18 year old we gave them. But to be honest nobody we gave them really was starting caliber. Gomez is close but will he actually learn how to hit. I say yes cuz he is still young. But overall i think Sanatana fits well with the mets.

Good rotation now and some pressure off the pen.

by sincethebeginning @ Amazin' Avenue on Jan 29, 2008 5:51 PM EST reply actions

Sox, Yanks

Their initial deals were no longer on the table, it would seem. The Yankees may not have even had *any* offer on the table. The Sox were no longer willing to include John Lester, and the rest of their package wasn't appreciably better than the Mets'.

by Eric Simon on Jan 29, 2008 5:55 PM EST up reply actions

woo

Sums it up.

.318/.379/.591
.299/.362/.543
.304/.396/.474
.317/.363/.517
.289/.375/.478
.288/.387/.474
.305/.385/.479
.278/.339/.399
Pick your poison

by BlackOps on Jan 29, 2008 6:15 PM EST reply actions

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I haven't been this pumped since Mike Piazza getting gotten. :-) I AM PSYCHED!!!!!!!!!

CAN SOMEONE TEACH BELTRAN HOW TO GET A GOD D***ED RBI?!?!

by ZaBlanc on Jan 29, 2008 6:19 PM EST reply actions

PECOTA

Baseball Prospectus has already run a new Pecota projection for Johan:

"GS W-L IP H BB SO HR ERA SuperVORP WARP MORP
Mets 32 16-8 225.0 184 60 239 25 2.94 56.8 7.5 $22,400,000
Twins 33 15-9 227.0 197 62 230 25 3.32 55.6 7.4 $21,975,000
That would be a very good season -- and would probably make Santana the odds-on favorite to win the Cy Young Award. But my sense is that people are looking for Sandy Koufax circa 1965 and that's not likely to be the case. For one thing, while Shea is an excellent pitchers' park, the Metrodome had become a pretty good pitchers' park too, so the marginal gain is less than you'd think. For another, Santana's talent level appears to have degraded just a tiny little bit from his 2004-2006 peak; he's always been a flyball pitcher, but now a few more of those flyballs are landing for home runs.

But. Santana's WARP and VORP totals are essentially pure profit for the Mets, since some of the guys they were running out there last year were replacement level talents at best. And it's hard to think of another permutation of team and player that does more to improve a team's chances of reaching the playoffs. Considering that the Mets managed to achieve this without giving up a single top-tier prospect, this is a happy day for Mets fans."

I would have thought the improvement from the AL would have been better because as far as I can recall, Shea depresses homerun rates, whereas the dome in Minny does not. Either way, a great pick up for the Mets. Kind of reminds me of the Viola deal way back when, when we gave up a fairly large group of prospects and Aguilera, he being the only one who gave the Twins much value.

by OronosFemur on Jan 29, 2008 6:51 PM EST reply actions

Viola

I think you're forgetting Kevin Tapani, who wasn't great (most of the time), but he did win nearly 150 games, while being a slightly above average starter. It easily pushed the deal in favor of the Twins.

by Alex Nelson on Jan 29, 2008 7:08 PM EST up reply actions

Tapani

I didn't forget him, but wins or no, I recall him as league average or slightly worse, but I was and am going by memory.

by OronosFemur on Jan 29, 2008 9:02 PM EST up reply actions

Actually...

2007 park factors for left handed pitchers show that Minnesota supresses home runs (quite a bit) and Shea stadium is friendly to home runs.

Link: Left handed NL

Link: Left handed AL

vr, Xei

Baseball, it is what it is.

by Xeifrank on Jan 29, 2008 7:11 PM EST up reply actions

Mets Get Santana

A lot of people question the motives of the Twins to accept the Mets trade package. The bottom line is: 1.They get young prospects 2.They get him out of the American League where they won't have to face him multipe times either with the Yankees or the Red Sox. Their last offer to him was basically an overture to their fans. See we tried to sign him, knowing fully well he wouldn't accept it.

by cpoled on Jan 29, 2008 7:14 PM EST reply actions

Claus

The no trade claus is what killed the Twins on this one. Yes, they got prospects but nothing to get very excited about. They added some depth to their minor league system, but no standout players. The no trade claus basically narrows down the number of teams a player can get traded to and removes or lessens any semblance of a bidding war. No bidding war = Bad trade. Take a look at the Lakers and Kobe Bryant. Bryant has a no trade claus and took it one step further than Johan this past offseason. He not only picked the team (Bulls) he wanted to go to, but was also picking the players the Lakers could trade for. He didn't want the Bulls to get depleted by having to give up too much for him. If I was a GM, I would steer clear of giving any player a no trade claus.

vr, Xei

Baseball, it is what it is.

by Xeifrank on Jan 29, 2008 7:59 PM EST up reply actions

It's "clause."

"Claus" is the guy who brings kids toys on Christmas.

by madisonmetsfan on Jan 29, 2008 9:59 PM EST up reply actions

no-trade claus?

"Everybody knows there's no such thing as the sanity clause!" -Chico Marx

by anonymous on Jan 29, 2008 10:02 PM EST up reply actions

Mets Get Santana

A lot of people question the motives of the Twins accepting the Mets trade package. The bottom line is: 1.They get young prospects 2.They get him out of the American League where they won't have to face him multiple times either with the Yankees or the Red Sox. Their last offer to him was basically an overture to their fans. See we tried to sign him, knowing fully well he wouldn't accept it.

by cpoled on Jan 29, 2008 7:17 PM EST reply actions

So happy : 0

I felt like we were going in the wrong direction before this. But now I am confident in saying that we are legitimate World Series contenders. And that is pretty damn exciting.

Pedro and Maine and pray we don't go insane.

by TheFlushingKings on Jan 29, 2008 8:00 PM EST reply actions

THE METS FANS

are very happy about this deal. This is absolutely a nice deal for the Mets.

by jimbrucer on Jan 29, 2008 8:53 PM EST reply actions

OK

I'm coming around. I like it. I do still wish we could undo the Milledge trade though.

by Josh @ Amazin' Avenue on Jan 29, 2008 11:36 PM EST reply actions

Great Quote from the Phillies board

Originally posted by J. Weitzel:

Omar Minaya, in a memo to Pat Gillick:

"I see your Pedro Feliz and raise you a Johan! Check mate, biotch."

by SeanNY on Jan 30, 2008 1:33 AM EST reply actions

even better

All over the internet, Braves fans are in the various stages of coping. Most are in denial ("he still doesn't make the Mets rotation better than ours" or "he's in decline") and some have reached the anger stage. I suspect they'll all be at acceptance pretty soon. Hee Hee Hee!!!

Let's Go Meters in New York!!!

by Greenpoint Ian on Jan 30, 2008 8:27 AM EST up reply actions