Rogers: Santana Speculation, Mitchell Report Thoughts, Etc.
Posted on December 16th, 2007 by McFleece
Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune has some good news and notes in his column today. Here’s a rundown:
- Rogers speculates that the signing of Adam Everett by Minnesota hints that the Twins may be preparing to keep Johan Santana for the upcoming season. Rogers has a valid point, saying that, “Everett’s glove could help win low-scoring games behind Santana and Francisco Liriano.” That is certainly true. But the Twins could have also just signed Everett to help the teams other pitchers (Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, etc.) transition more easily to the Majors. If anything, this reminds us that the Twins still have the option of keeping Santana and just taking the draft picks when he leaves via free agency next winter. Getting fleeced is not an option for the Twins.
- Rogers points out a startling statistic: 12 of the 20 MVP awards won between 1995 and 2004 were won by players linked in some way to banned substances. The list of potential cheaters includes Barry Bonds, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Tejada, Mo Vaughn and the late Ken Caminiti. Jose Canseco would like to include Alex Rodriguez in that category, too.
- Rogers relays a good quote from Arizona farm director AJ Hinch on 1st base prospect Chris Carter who was just traded to Oakland in the Dan Haren trade after being shipped to Arizona in the Carlos Quentin trade earlier this month. “He gets your attention with his bat. Clearly, power is a big part of his game. He is an intriguing prospect who is going to play young at every level. He’s strong. He’s enormous.” Carter was the top offensive prospect in the White Sox system just one month ago.
- Not surprisingly, no team is interested in Sammy Sosa, who loves to cheat.
- Sad story about White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras: Contreras was reunited with his wife and children less than two years ago when they were finally allowed to leave Cuba. However, before last season, Contreras’ wife filed for divorce. This undoubtedly contributed to his horrendous season. Hopefully time will heal those wounds and Contreras can bounce back in 2008.
Filed under: Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics
If the Twins do what the Nationals did a few years back w/Soriano, and keep him, and get only a draft pick for him, they will in essence be fleecing themselves. They have offeres on the table that include the likes of Jon Lester, Phil Hughes, Jacoby Ellsbury perhaps, 4 or 5 players from the Mets, and possible deals from the LAA could be discussed. If they want to wait to trade him, that’s fine, but prior to next year’s trading deadline they should take the best possible deal they have on the table.
..But only if that deal is worth it.
If the best deal on the table is Lester/Crisp/Lowrie/Masterson, for example, they have to decide if that package is more valuable than two top 50 picks in the 2009 draft (they’d get the acquiring team’s top pick plus a sandwich pick), PLUS a chance to make the dance in 2008.
Tough choice. That’s why they are in prime fleece position.
I am high on Lester and Hughes, so I would be inclined to say do the deal. Those two guys are much closer to being ready, and are very young, and somewhat “proven”.
I say if you don’t get the deal you want, wait until the deadline next summer and absolutely fleece a desperate GM. Look what the Rangers got for Gagne, and the Padres for Linebrink, nothing too special, at least not yet, but more than you would of thought for two guys 8th inning rentals.
**minus guys
From Tim MacMahon of dallasnews.com:
Seeing how he’s the star of the Mitchell Report, I’m not sure Roger Clemens ought to be passing on tips to high school coaches. He’s scheduled to speak at the Texas high school baseball coaches’ convention next month.
The subject of the speech: “My Vigorous Workout, How I Played So Long.”
Holding off on trading Santana is a double edged sword. Again though, he has stated in the past that he would refuse a midseason trade if the Twins waited. Mainly because at this point Santana can completely fleece any of the large market teams as it stands. If Santana were to start the season and get hurt… his value would obviously greatly diminish. However, if he pitches 2/3 of the 2008 season, is healthy, and does as obscenely as well as he has the past few seasons his value will skyrocket even higher (if that’s possible) and it would be in his best interest to wait until free agency rather than “settle” with a team… unless they were really desperate to have him or prevent someone else from getting him… in which case he and the Twins would fleece the crap out of them…. Hey a double edged fleece!!!