I've had about enough of the Johan Santana rumor mill.

It's becoming increasingly obvious that he'll be there opening day with the Twins and will remain with them till at least the trade deadline.

Why?

Because it's becoming increasinly obvious that there is a lot of chatter from all sides, but no action.  Usually, the more rumors that are passed around about a player, the more unlikely it's going to happen.  It's like talking the whole night how you're going to go after the prettiest girl in the room, but at the end of the night, you're going back home to nothing but a hard drive full of porn and a full box of kleenex.

Sorry for the visual analogy, but that's what it's become in the Santana Sweepstakes, which have become nothing more than just a lot of shock jock fodder and a whole lot of New York centric media opinions (oh god, the New York media opionions!  Newsday has become unreadable!)  I swear to god, if I hear one more Hank Steinbrenner quote, I'll go up to Yankee Stadium myself and stuff his father's turtleneck in his piehole, just so he'd shut up!

BTW, is it just me, or is Steinbrenner the Younger seeming to enjoy the limelight that comes with his new job.  I think he's likely to follow in his father's footsteps, which means that the Yankees will be sucking in about five to eight years, thanks to Hank trading away the farm and signing the various Mel Hall and Danny Tartabull types on a whim.

The fact is, a trade should have already happened, as Boston, New York and New York should have pulled the trigger on a deal.

And spare me the talk about how Santana would require a huge contract extension that makes him unaffordable.  All three of these teams would be lining up to get into a money fight for Santana if he hits the market next winter.

And the Yankees are the last one's to be preaching fiscal responsibility.  Didn't they just spend $275 million on Alex Rodriguez?  They can easily afford to extend Santana, who fills a need and has more upside to any Yankee prospect with the exception of Joba.  They have $58.3 million coming off the books anyway, not counting the sunk costs of $6.95 million for paying Giambi and Pavano to go away.

Don't snicker Red Sox fans.  You all aren't any better.  You have about the same amount of money leaving the books, with Manny and Varitek's contracts coming off the books.  And you have the farm system depth to fill the holes as well. 

The Twins too also have to be reasonable.  You aren't going to get a team to completely gut their system for Santana.   It's unrealistic.  You need to get teams to agree to a reasonable set of demands and flip as soon as the best deal comes up. 

Financial reasons aside, here is what the Twins should reasonably expect to get for their ace:

• 1 High Quality Pitching Prospect
• 1 High Quality Positional Prospect
• 1 Above Average Pitching Prospect
• 1 Average Prospect Or Young Player

Here are the offers for each team:

Boston - Jon Lester (LHP), Jed Lowrie (SS/2B), Justin Masterson (RHP), Coco Crisp (CF)

I honestly don't know why the Twins haven't agreed to this deal, as it matches up with my qualifications perfectly.  I think the Twins are hoping that Boston will toss in Clay Buchholz, which won't happen.  Lester is an above average lefty who could be a number two starter.  Lowrie could start for Minnesota now and be the best second baseman they've had since Chuck Knoblauch.  Masterson has the potential to be a good pitcher in this league and Crisp helps give Minnesota a solid outfield for the first time in years.

New York (AL) - Phil Hughes (RHP), Melky Cabrera (CF), Jeff Marquez (RHP), Mitch Hillgross

This is insulting, actually.  While Hughes is very good and I like Marquez to be a solid innings eater in the NATIONAL league, the rest is just ####.  Cabrera is a average regular, not a star and I don't blame the Twins for shooing away fhe Yankees with this offer.  If you want to give me something to think about, here is what I would ask for:

Phil Hughes (RHP), Melky Cabrera (CF), Ian Kennedy (RHP), Alan Horne (RHP)

And before Yankee Fans jump on me, consider this.  Kennedy has been highly overrated since he was drafted and has been made to be a lot better than he is by the Yankee spin machine.  He is, at best, a average pitcher with excellent command and is at best a Number Three pitcher, nothing more.  He's not the second coming of Mike Mussia, who had better stuff than Kennedy at the beginning of his career.  Horne has good stuff, but is injury prone and likely a bullpen guy in the end.  Cabrera is an average regular, not a star. 

New York (NL) - Carlos Gomez (CF), Delouis Guerra (RHP), Phil Humber (RHP), Kevin Mulvey (RHP)

A good offer, it's better than what the Yankees are offering and it sends Santana to the NL, where he wouldn't haunt the Twins.  However, I would ask for Fernando Martinez, who has a chance to be a star, instead of Gomez.  That would trump the Red Sox offer and if I had that deal on the table, I'd take it and run with it.  Guerra has a chance to be a solid Number Two pitcher, Humber an inninsg eater, and Mulvey a solid 3.  That's not a bad return.

Oh, and by the way, Omar Minaya is a fool for not agreeing to trade Gomez back in November for Matt Garza, who had a chance to be the best pitcher on the Mets' roster.  The Twins should thank him, as they got Delmon Young in the deal, who is a lot better.

Unfortunately, it looks like we'll be inundated with more of the Santana claptrap, with more rantings for Hank Steinbrenner, more of us seeing Theo Epstein's Fraiser Crane impersonation with him saying "I'm listening", and more pleas from Omar Minaya for the Twins to accept his good, but not great offer. 

So sorry folks, we'll be listening to three more months of the same #### till Spring Training ends.

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.

Alright, just a quick rundown on the Santana Sweepstakes.

On The Block – Johan Santana

The reason for this?  Why not?

The Why:  Santana is entering his walk year and the Twins have already made it known that they won’t give him Barry Zito’s deal to keep him, mostly because of owner Carl Pohland, who one of the cheapest owners in sports, and they may want to see if they can acquire talent for him to help the club in the long run, as the system is starting to run a little dry thanks to some over-conservative drafting.

The Rumored Asking Price:  Three to four good prospects, that are either ready to start immediately or are close to.

Can A Trade Be Done:  Yes, provided that a window for a contract extension is granted to the acquiring team.  Otherwise, no team is going to give up a top of low cost talent in exchange for a one year rental.

The Good:  Santana is perhaps the best pitcher in baseball and could be the ace of ANY rotation.  He’s dominant, has proven to be healthy, and can pitch in the AL and has done so in many of the best hitters parks in the league.

Potential Hang-ups:

• Money – It’s going to be costly to extend Santana, who could be baseball’s first $20 million pitcher.  That’s a LOT of money and many couldn’t afford him. 
• Prospects – The Twins want high ceiling talent and a lot of it, which is going to make things difficult, as many teams simply don’t have farm systems that deep to send the necessary talent back.  So, that limits the amount of people that are legitimate suitors even further. 

Potential Suitors – In Alphabetical Order

• Boston Red Sox – Ummm, Boston apparently would be interested in Santana (but it makes no sense really, as they have a solid rotation already that is very cost effective), but they would likely offer the Twins a package of Jon Lester, Coco Crisp and probably infield prospect Jed Lowrie, plus a player to be mutually decided on.  The problem is that they would only give up Lester and would balk if asked for Ellsbury or Buchholz. 
• Los Angeles Dodgers – The Dodgers certainly have the ammunition to try and make a deal, with them offering a package that would include Andy LaRoche, their top third base prospect, Andre Ethier, who could start in left field, Matt Kemp, who would start in right, and likely Chad Billingsley, the top lefty prospect in the minors.  That is a hell of a package and would give the Twins immediate bonuses to three of their lineup spots while giving them a stud pitching prospect as well.  The problem is that Dodgers owner Frank McCourt might not like the price tag it would take to extend Santana. 
• New York Mets – Omar Minaya seems determined to make a huge splash, and has said he’s saving his trade chips for a front of the rotation pitcher.  There’s just one problem:  most of the Mets’ prospects suck.  Philip Humber and Mike Pelfrey have had their stocks take hits and they lack many other positional players to send back to Minnesota.  The best thing they COULD do would be to see if the Twins still want to do that Matt Garza-Carlos Gomez swap.  I’d be all over that in a second.
• New York Yankees – The Yankees are sure to be in on Santana, and apprently, after the Game 4 loss to the Indians, they immediately called the Twins asking what it would take to build a package around Chein Ming Wang to get Santana.  This was purely rumor, but any deal involving Santana would likely involve New York.  Wang wouldn’t be attractive to the Twins as he’s going to be getting expensive short and he really isn’t what they’re looking for.  They’d likely ask for a package centered around Melky Cabrera and one of the Phil Hughes/Joba Chamberlain duet, with Robinson Cano thrown in for good measure.  The Yankees would likely balk and try to see if Ian Kennedy would get the job done, after which they’re promptly be laughed at and hung up on.  That’s really how it would go down, as New York is so protective even of their worst prospects that it’s hard to get a deal done.  However, with Hank Steinbrenner spilling the beans about the negotiations to get him, this deal may have legs after all.
• Texas Rangers – Texas certainly has the ammunition to make a deal, with a package likely having to center around Eric Hurley, their top pitching prospect, Ian Kinsler, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, which would allow them to use Mauer at DH more often.  It would be a good trade package, but wouldn’t be enough to compare with what other teams may offer. 

If I Had To Pick A Deal Right Now...Traded To The New York Yankees For RHP Phil Hughes, RHP Ian Kennedy, CF Melky Cabrera and OF Austin Jackson

Will A Deal Ultimately Happen – Yes.  Frankly, the Twins could see themselves as being able to bounce back in contention with the return of Francisco Liriano, but let’s be reasonable.  The Twins also have a lot of holes and their owners’ reluctance to spend money means they can’t buy themselves the necessary fixes to help remedy the problem.  As a result, they’ve got to move him now to be able to at least reload with their current nucleus.