Johan Santana join Mets
By on
January 29th, 2008
The New York Mets have reportedly acquired left-handed pitcher Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins, beating out the Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who ultimately seemed more interested in keeping him from each other rather than actually paying the cost of acquiring him themselves.
For a while, the Twins waited, hoping that the Yankees and Red Sox would sweeten their offers, but when they never did, they accepted the Mets’ package of outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey, according to a major league baseball official who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about a deal that is not yet official.
The trade hinges on Santana’s passing a physical exam and, more notably, agreeing to a contract extension. The Mets have a 72-hour window to negotiate a new deal with Santana, a free agent after the 2008 season, but Mets officials do not anticipate that being a significant challenge, although Santana is said to be seeking $20 million a year for half a dozen seasons.
The Mets’ interests would seem to intersect with that of Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg, with whom they enjoy a strong relationship. Greenberg also represents Jose Reyes and Endy Chavez, and the Mets have had amicable contract negotiations with him involving each player. And Greenberg will certainly want Reyes, a young star with a long future ahead of him, to be playing on as competitive a team as possible.
Although the trade removes most of the upper-tier talent from the Mets’ farm system, they managed to hold onto one top pitching prospect, Mike Pelfrey, as well as a prized young minor league outfielder, 18-year-old Fernando Martinez.
For the Mets, giving up four solid prospects, but none of them viewed as can’t-miss blue-chippers, seemed worth it to acquire a pitcher like the 29-year-old Santana who figures to front the Mets’ rotation for years to come. He holds a 93-44 career record and went 15-13 with a 3.33 earned run average last season.
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