This morning, most of the New York papers and Yankees blogs are musing about what type of package would be enough for Johan Santana and/or whether a deal should even be made.
There are also reports the the Yankees aren’t alone in the Santana sweepstakes. The Mets, Red Sox and Dodgers all will make a push for him.
Joel Sherman of the NY Post, who believes the Yankees should trade for the Cy Young lefty, writes today that the Yankees must be prepared to offer more than just Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera in any trade discussions. That’s not really news to anyone who has followed this story since the Twins let it be known that they would want a major league ready player and three “premium prospects” for Santana. Kat O’Brien of Newsday writes that the Yankees continue to work on a package that will get a deal done.
I wrote here at MBB as early as last Saturday that it would probably take a Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, Alan Horne and possibly Jose Tabata to get a deal done. Some may say that is way too much to give up, but we’re not talking about a middle of the rotation starter here. Johan Santana is one of the top three pitchers in all of baseball and the Minnesota Twins hold all the cards. If you want something bad enough, you’re probably going to have to give up more than you want to.
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times wonders just how bad the Yankees want Johan. Peter Abraham of LoHud thinks the Yankees should stick to their plan of developing the kids. The guys over at River Ave. Blues are selling ‘Save the Big Three’ t-shirts for God’s sake (cool idea by the way!). Steve at Was Watching thinks a “Cano & Hughes” or “Melky & Joba” is just way too much to give up.
More to come…