Santana, Santana, and more Santana

So everyone wants to get Santana and give up nothing for him? Fantastic! But hardly realistic. When it comes to trades scenarios, nothing good comes from listening to fans call into radio shows and say what they think. However, people just have to understand that you have to give up something good to get something good back.

Doug (NY): Am I naive to think that over the next 6 years, I'd rather have Hughes (for approx $6M) than Santana (for approx $150M)

SportsNation Rob Neyer: It depends on which team you're running. If you're running the Yankees and you want to make a *profit* you want Hughes. But if you're running the Yankees and you want to win (while still making a profit, but a smaller one) you want Santana. It's important to remember that Hughes, for all his talent, probably won't win 100 games in the majors, simply because so many bad things can happen to a young pitcher.

I think Neyer hits the nail on the head here. It is worth it if you are the New York Yankees simply for the fact they will drop $20 million per year on a player and not blink.

Adam (NYC): It's hard to believe that Santana will win another 100 games though...wouldn't Hughes have a better chance of reaching that mark than a 29 year old pitcher past his prime? If the Yanks sign Santana to a 10 year extension, they'd be paying Santana $20 million a year at age 39...at the same time Hughes would be entering the prime of his career. Can you say Kevin Brown? Not a very wise business move to say the least.

SportsNation Rob Neyer: Adam, here's a chance for some research. Go back and make a list of 20 pitching prospects with Hughes' credentials. Then make a list of 20 pitchers with Santana's credentials. I'll bet you the Santana comps won more games afterward than the Hughes comps did.

Doug (NY): A little research; according to BA, the top pitching prospects since 1990: S.Avery, T.Van Poppell, B.Taylor, Bere, J.Baldwin, B.Pulsipher, P.Wilson, K.Wood, R.White, R.Ankiel, R.Anderson, J.Beckett, M.Prior, J.Foppert, E.Jackson, F.Hernandez, Liriano. It's too early to tell on some of them (King Felix for example), but other than Beckett, not really a list of HOFers

SportsNation Rob Neyer: Exactly. Thank you for doing what I couldn't do. Granted, Hughes has done more than Van Poppel or Taylor or some of those other guys had done at his age. But the point still holds, I think.

I know the Yankees have been saying they are reluctant to part with Hughes or Joba, but it is just posturing. They would be happy to part with Hughes for Santana and they would especially be happy if Pettite does not come back. Only problem is, the Yankees probably do not have the juice to get the deal done if they fail to include Joba or Cano, which they probably will not. Hughes and Cabrera? As popular as that might be as a deal for Yankee fans, it is 190% improbable. What about throwing in Austin Jackson? Maybe if he put up those numbers at AAA instead of A ball. What about throwing in Kennedy? Depends how good you think he can be, but the Twins still fail to get a bat and Cabrera is not even close to being the productive bat that they need.

“If we make a trade for anybody, it’s going to be fair for both sides,” Steinbrenner said. “We’re not looking to rob anybody. We’re also not going to give up all of our future for one player, even if it is a pitcher.”

Basically, I cannot see the Yankees landing Santana without giving away all four of those guys. As for the Mets, they would literally have to hand them over their top four prospects and Lastings Milledge. A Pelfrey and Milledge deal is just a tick below Hughes and Cabrera because Milledge is head and shoulders going to be a more productive player on the offensive side of things than Melky, but he Mets have little else afterwards. Maybe if the Mets give up Gomez or F-Mart and toss in Guerra for good measure they might get their attention, but Mets successfully put their system into the bottom five of the bigs in the process, which is a bad thing for a team that does not have unlimited resources.

"Someone asked me what I thought of our team," Wagner said in an interview with MLB.com. "I said, 'What team?' We've lost 13 games [Glavine's victory total], and now we are going have to give up something to get those games back. I'm afraid we're just going to create other holes if we give up a [Lastings] Milledge, a [Mike] Pelfrey or a Heilman."

Again, for what it would take the Mets to get him, I just do not think it is worth it. Who gets him? I'm not sure, but the Yankees seem like the best landing spot given their ability to spend. However, given their tight assed approach, it seems like Santana just might hang around Minnesota unless the Dodgers really step up their pursuit or Boston says the are serious about including Ellsbury in a deal with Lestor or Buchholz because the Twins are simply not just going to take the best offer on the table no matter what anyone says.

It has to make sense for them since they have a shot, though a small one, at making a run for things next year based on pitching, pitching, and more pitching. Besides, they can always deal another young pitcher for a young bat like Carlos Quentin to bolster the offense. The Twins have been rather profficient at drafting some pretty solid players and might be better off taking their chances at a playoff run in '07 and taking two picks. Unless things change and better deals do not start shaping up, it is hard to see the Twins trading him at this point in time.

* * *

Wagner had a lot more to say outside of the above quote.

He also says he is not all that happy about how Willie runs his bullpen.

Wagner said: "In Willie Randolph's bullpen, it's different. He wants guys to be able to go 2 2/3 innings or one-third of an inning or in between. That's how he wants it. But guys just want to know, so they can prepare themselves and be comfortable."

Wagner said he and Randolph discussed relief roles several times during the season and that, more recently, general manager Omar Minaya and COO Jeff Wilpon subsequently have asked him about roles.

"I understand what Willie wants -- for a lot of guys to be able to pitch whenever they're needed for as long as he needs them. I'm not sure you can have that. Guys are used to having roles. They'll take the ball because that's what the job is and that's what the manager wants. But the idea is to get them into situations where they can be successful. I mean, you wouldn't ask Carlos Delgado to bunt."

Overall, I like the fact Wagner has his opinions, but he needs to give Omar some time to shape this team a bit more. There is more to be done and it is hard to pass judgment right now.

Anytime a writer offers up advice for Omar, I get scared. However, this was pretty on point.

Michael Salfino does a great job rounding up some info on the Mets top outfield prospects and young pitching prospects.

I still think Humber needs a pass until we see him throw more innings. He was towards the top of all major categories in AAA as we have all mentioned many times and that was coming of elbow surgery. Mulvey however, seems like a John Maine clone with more refined pitches at the same point in their respective careers. I am fully on the Mulvey bandwagon and the Mets better choose carefully and identify their own prospects probability of hitting their ceilings and keep them while dishing off the others if they dabble into the practice of trading human beings.

Larry LaRue has an interesting article about Santana coming to the Mariners with a package of Adam Jones, Jeff Clement, and Brandon Morrow going back. Now we could debate all day about how questionable it would be for a team in the Mariners position to make that deal when they are seemingly a .500 team and giving up two big bats that are part of their future, but that would be a deal I could get behind. Two first class bats for a team that needs hitting badly and Morrow gives them back a nice solid arm that needs some work. Could one of the most profitable teams in baseball shock the world and get a deal done?

Ned Colleti wising up? The Dodgers are my pick to win the west next season if they let all the kids play.

The Red Sox and the Rockies are two teams full of good people.

Considering 37 players pitched or played full- or part-time in 2007, that means a sizable contingent of backstage help, from coaches, trainers, clubhouse staff and Fenway Park [map] employees received partial or full shares. Fourteen partial shares were awarded, while 11 cash awards were voted in.

The team the Sox swept in the World Series, the Colorado Rockies, voted 44 full shares of $233,505. Mandy Coolbaugh, the widow of Rockies minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh, gets a full share. Mike Coolbaugh was killed when struck by a foul ball during a game in July.

I like Dotel and Chacon as possible bullpen options simply because they will not command some insane contracts and will very likely put up the same numbers as Linebrink will for his monstrous contract. Again, not a splashy move, but I do not think the Mets truly need to make a splashy move. Slow and steady is the way to go.