UPDATE, 1-25-08 at 9:46pm: According to LEN3: I was told today that next week is a big week in terms of determining if and where Santana will be dealt. The end is in sight, then?
FROM 1-25-08 at 9:30am:
Time for your daily Johan Santana rumors post.
- LEN3 talked to a Twins official who said there had been no recent extension talks between Santana and the Twins. Meanwhile Sid Hartman at the same paper says the Mets and Yankees won’t go seven years, and he think the Twins’ 4/80 offer is fair.
- Neal says that while Santana won’t necessarily veto any trade reached after Spring Training starts, it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid dragging it that far.
- The Mets are still reluctant to part with Fernando Martinez, seemingly the dealbreaker right now. Aaron Heilman could enter the mix though.
- Neal believes the Yankee/Red Sox offers from December are still on the table. This has been my hunch as well. Which is why I think Boston can still pull this off.
- If no deal can be reached soon the Twins might have to sign a stopgap CF like Corey Patterson or Kenny Lofton.
- Buster Olney on Johan’s warning signs: I talked with evaluators and scouts with three other teams since then, and they all saw the exact same thing in Santana: diminishment in velocity, relatively few sliders thrown, subpar (for Santana) performances. But two of the three believe the regression could be attributed to the Twins not being in the race, Minnesota not playing in a high-adrenalin situation, and Santana coping with a cracked nail. The third evaluator wonders, too, if Santana is OK. "If a deal is made, you could see there would be a complete physical, given the money involved," said the evaluator.
