This is a quick update to Tuesday's On The Block.  Today's On The Block will be posted shortly...

On The Block - Johan Santana (again...)

Well, the trade acquistions of Delmon Young and Brendan Harris have changed what exactly the Twinkies will want in return for Santana and, subsequently, changes the amount of bidders available.  The Twins will now likely look for a centerfielder as well as near ready starting pitching, and positional players.  Harris is merely a stopgap shortstop and would actually be better at third base, assuming that the Twins go with Alexi Casilla and not the awful Nick Punto and second.

Here's who is going to likely not have a match:

• Texas Rangers – Not that Texas was ever really in it, but this kinda kills any offer the Rangers could send.  A package could be built around Hurley and Salty, but Kinsler wouldn't be as attractive. 
• New York Mets - The Mets now have no shot to even interest the Twins.  The best thing they could do would be to try and acquire one of the Twins' lesser arms for an outfielder, but there isn't anything the Mets have that could interest Minnesota in any way.

That leaves four teams that realistically could trade for Santana, three of them the same from Tuesday, one of them new....

Potential Suitors – In Alphabetical Order

• Boston Red Sox – Boston actually now would make the most sense, as they could send the Twins a good looking package of Jed Lowrie, a shortstop, Jon Lester, a ready made pitcher, Coco Crisp, a centerfielder, and likely a fourth prospect, possbly Brandon Moss, another outfielder, which could DH for the Twins, or something else.
• Los Angeles Angels – Artie Moreno and Co. look like their willing to go all in this offseason, with the acquisitions of Garland and Hunter.  It would be tough to see who Santana would replace, though it would likely come at the expense of Jered Weaver, a pitcher who is nowhere near as good as he's made out to be.  The Angels could offer Minnesota a package of Reggie Willits, who could man center and bat leadoff, Brandon Wood or Erick Aybar, both of whom can play shortstop, Weaver, who could slot in right away, and likely a fourth prospect, maybe Mark Sweeney, a power hitting first baseman in the lower minors.
• Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers MIGHT be able to make a deal now.  Since the outfield is now out of player, the Dodgers would likely have to center a deal around Andy LaRoche, their top third base prospect, Chin-Lung Hu, their top shortstop prospect, as well as Clayton Kershaw and one more player.  That would be too rich for me. 
• New York Yankees – The one team that the Young trade screws over the most is the Yankees, who now not only have to include Melky Cabrera in a trade, but would also have to include Robinson Cano, along with Kennedy and Hughes for a deal to work.  And before the Yankee hate mail comes it, there aren't ANY positional prospects in the Yankees' minors aside from Austin Jackson, thanks to a lot of pitching centered drafts.

If I Had To Pick A Deal Right Now...Traded To The Boston Red Sox for SS Jed Lowrie, LHP Jon Lester, OF Brandon Wood and CF Coco Crisp.

Will A Trade Happen - Yes.  The Twins are nowhere near close to competing in a very stiff AL Central and the window with this current nucleus closed about two years ago, making a rebuilding effort long delayed.  At the very least, the trades of Santana and Joe Nathan would allow the Twins to get enough young pieces that the farm has failed to produce to put together a nice, young talent core to mount a challenge to the Indians and Tigers in two years.

Jim Bowden has done an average job as GM of the Washington Nationals, with most of the deals that he has made working out for the better (see the original trade of Alfonso Soriano and the Austin Kearns deal) and has generally shown a decent job as far as the draft. 

Bowden has had a pair of gaffes in his tenure that have really bombed, however:

• Losing RHP Darrel Ranser on a waiver to the Yankees after Ranser was dropped from the 40 Man Roster.   Not a smart decision for a team lacking in pitching arms.
• Not Trading Alfonso Soriano at the 2006 Trade Deadline. 

Simply put, the decision to hang onto Soriano was a terrible one, especially when you consider the proposed package offered to the Nationals by the Los Angeles Angels.

Here's what we could have seen last July 31st...

The Washington Nationals Trade OF Alfonso Soriano to the Los Angeles Angels for SS Erick Aybar and RHP Ervin Santana

Aybar is a solid shortstop candidate that has excellent range and enough of a bat to succeed in the National League once he's fully developed.  As for Santana, Santana seems like a pitcher that would really thrive once he moved to the National League. 

The trade could use one more player, as Soriano was traded for three players and such a bounty would require a third.  Upon looking through the organization, I really don't know of any others that the Angels would be willing to give up, unless the Angels were desperate enough to give up Jered Weaver or someone else.

However, Bowden killed the deal, having just acquired shortstop Felipe Lopez in the Kearns deal and not wanting a glut at short.  He also wanted to sub Aybar for masher Brandon Wood, to which the Angels finally said no.

Still, even the trade as is would have benefited the Nationals a lot more than what they actually got:

• The Cubs' second round pick plus a first round compensation

That's right.  The Cubbies were able to obtain Soriano for close to nothing, as their draft pick, due to it being a Top 15, was protected from Draft Pick Compensation.

Ouch.