It's another example of how wide the gap is between the haves and have-nots of baseball.
Johan Santana passed his physical Saturday, finalizing a deal that sent arguably the best pitcher in the big leagues from Minnesota to the New York Mets.
The left-hander agreed to a six-year, $137.5 million contract, a record deal for a pitcher, that includes an option for a seventh year and total of $157 million.
The small-market Twins pried four prospects away from Mets general manager Omar Minaya: outfielder Carlos Gomez and right-handed pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra.
Santana, who'll turn 29 before the season opens, joins a beleagured team that lost a seven-game lead over Philadelphia with 17 games remaining last season and already turns New York into almost everybody's NL East champions and favorite to represent the Senior Circuit in the World Series.
He automatically became the ace of an aging staff that lost Tom Glavine back to Atlanta but still includes veterans Orlando Hernandez and Pedro Martinez and young John Maine, who finished 15-10 in 2007.
Santana is 93-44 during his career but was only 15-13 last season while giving up 33 gopher balls. Long-term deals are always a crap shoot with pitchers, but Santana should save plenty of wear and tear on his arm pitching in Shea Stadium compared to the Metrodome and from facing pitchers instead of designated hitters.
Minnesota's hands were pretty much tied, knowing that their two-time Cy Young Award winner would likely depart via free agency after the 2008 season and they might get much less for him had they waited until the trading deadline. After all, Santana had turned down a measly four-year, $80 million extension to stay in the Twin Cities.
Meanwhile, the Twins are hoping that the speedy Gomez eventually fills Torii Hunter's spot in center field. He hit .232 in 125 at-bats with the Mets last year, his only big-league experience.
Of the three pitching farmhands, Guerra hasn't performed higher than Class A yet, while Humber and Mulvey also are long shots to contribute this season, something that has left Twins fans wondering why their team turned down overtures from Boston and the Yankees in December, deals that could have landed them Major League ready players.
Nobody knows for sure, although this deal prevents Santana from hurting the Twins as he shifts to the NL. So, they finally reached an agreement with the Mets, who'll play their last season at Shea.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
