In the long-running Johan Santana Story, two people we have heard next to nothing from are Santana himself and Robinson Cano. Surprisingly enough, comments from both have come out in the last couple days.
Santana told the Fort Myers News-Press (the Twins hold spring training in Fort Myers): "I'm a Minnesota Twin," Santana said. "That's all I know. It's up to them. Whatever they have to do is going to happen. It has nothing to do with me at all. I said it from the beginning during the season last year, whatever will be the best for this team and this organization, I'll agree with that."
Cano, speaking at a New Jersey school yesterday, was on board with the idea of the Yankees getting Santana. That surprised me some, since one main player that would likely go to Minnesota in a Santana deal is Melky Cabrera, and he and Cano are attached at the hip.
But Cano told MLB.com: "We've got some great players. If we don't get a deal, we've got to play with our guys. In baseball, you never know what's going to happen. You've just got to keep fighting and play hard."
"It's a great deal if we can get Santana. We need it. We need a No. 1 guy like him. ... If [the Red Sox] got Santana, they're going to be a way better team. I hope we get him. It's not a good idea for us if they get Santana."
Cano said he had told Cabrera: "Don't pay attention to the rumors. If you get traded, just keep playing. He wants to be a Yankee; he said he doesn't want to leave. I told him, 'If you have to leave, keep playing hard. You never know. You might come back.'
"I love Melky, but he [would] play every day in Minnesota. If the deal is going to be great for him, I'll be happy. That's what I told him. If you're going to play every day, you prove to yourself that you can be in the big leagues. You don't want to be sitting on the bench."
Hank Steinbrenner told the Associated Press in Tampa the Yankees are not out of Santana talks. Here's the AP report: "It’s still in the deciding process,” Steinbrenner said Monday night outside Legends Field at the Yankees’ spring training complex. “We’re still discussing it. There’s still a little talk back and forth.”
Right-hander Phil Hughes and center fielder Melky Cabrera would likely be part of a multiplayer package needed to obtain Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who can become a free agent after this season.
Steinbrenner said reports that the Yankees recently withdrew a formal offer to the Twins are not true.
“There wasn’t an official offer anyway. You can’t withdraw something that wasn’t there,” Steinbrenner said. “There was no official offer on the table at this time.”
The New York Mets and Boston Red Sox are also interested in Santana.
Comments (15)
memo to cano - keep trap shut and worry about coming into spring training healthy. melky will play everyday in NY! although he is a great player and great contributer to the Yanks, he certainly is not untouchable if the right deal came along. let jeter et al. do the talking...
i for one am getting sick of the johan talk, hank's wishy washy quotes and the ball being in Minn. court. they obviously don't want to trade him and are trying to look like the good guys here. stick Minn. with Johan until he either 1) demands a trade 2) signs an extension with Minn 3) gets traded at deadline 4) becomes free agent at end of year
i dont believe its healthy for hughes, melky and crew to be worried about a blockbuster trade 1 month prior to season starting (for them at least)
get it done and over with and move on - Yankees outta start worrying about playing the game inside the foul lines instead of outside the lines
I really hope the Mets lock up a deal ASAP for Santana so we can move on and get ready for spring training.
The only the reason the Yankees need to stay in these talks is to be sure the Red Sox do not get him. I would not trade for Santana unless it looks like he may go to the Sox.
The Mets desperately need Santana even if it costs them a lot of their young guys. The Twins need to send him to the NL so they do not have to face him. Get it done Mets.
Miguel,
I'm sure Minnesota would love to be "stuck" with Santana, but it doesn't exactly work that way. Of course most of us on here hope he just stays in Minny this year and becomes a FA at the end of the season when he will cost the Yanks nothing but money and a draft pick, but is that realistic for the Twins? If they can basically rebuild their team in one shot by getting two starters, a CF and more, shouldn't they?
Let's hope this happens: The Twins hang on to Santana until July, in the hopes that a team like the Yankees is desperate enough to include Kennedy or the Sox are desperate enough to include Ellsbury and Lester in the same package, BUT at that time the Twins are in contention and decide to go for it all by standing pat....then they fall out of contention and Santana joins the Yanks next November. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one.
I guess the next best thing is if Santana is going to be traded, let the Mets get him and give up their entire future for him so that the Yanks and Sox don't have him.
In better news the Yankee Staduim signage is now over the main entrance .
AL Focus: Ranking the rotations
[quote]
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=334587
1. Indians: LHP C.C. Sabathia, RHP Fausto Carmona, RHP Jake Westbrook, RHP Paul Byrd, LHP Aaron Laffey
The biggest concern is whether Sabathia and Carmona have been scarred by their playoff implosions against Boston. This is a durable, sturdy group that should keep the bullpen fresh. LHPs Cliff Lee and Jeremy Sowers will push Lackey.
2. Red Sox: RHP Josh Beckett, RHP Curt Schilling, RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP Tim Wakefield, LHP Jon Lester
Matsuzaka faded in his first try at a longer season and Schilling and Wakefield are 41, so using RHP Clay Buchholz in a form of a six-man rotation isn't so far-fetched.
3. Angels: RHP John Lackey, RHP Kelvim Escobar, RHP Jered Weaver, RHP Jon Garland, LHP Joe Saunders
Garland, picked up from the White Sox, adds to the rotation's innings-eating capacity. In fact, Garland, Lackey and Escobar ranked among the top 25 in innings in the A.L. last season. RHP Ervin Santana is valuable as another starting option, as a reliever or as trade bait.
4. Blue Jays: RHP Roy Halladay, RHP A.J. Burnett, RHP Dustin McGowan, RHP Shaun Marcum, RHP Jesse Litsch
Halladay, Burnett and McGowan are ground-ball machines and will be big winners if new SS David Eckstein improves a mediocre in_ eld defense .
5. Tigers: RHP Justin Verlander, RHP Jeremy Bonderman, LHP Dontrelle Willis, LHP Kenny Rogers, LHP Nate Robertson
Willis got a long-term deal even though scouts wondered if he was hurt last season when his velocity dropped with Florida. Bonderman (2-8, 7.38) and Rogers (0-4, 5.72) had poor second halves.
6. Yankees: RHP Chien-Ming Wang, LHP Andy Pettitte, RHP Phil Hughes, RHP Joba Chamberlain, RHP Mike Mussina
The Yankees have not depended on two starters as young as Chamberlain (22) and Hughes (21) since the Dave Righetti-Mike Morgan duo in 1982. Wang's sinker ranks among the A.L.'s best pitches. Mussina is nearing the end.[/quote]
Yankees rotation stinks.. Yuck.....
i am getting increasingly annoyed at all this back and forth santana talk. one day hank is saying we're out, the next he's saying that they haven't ruled anything out. this wishy-washy back and forth "i'm not sure what to do" ownership style isn't going to work. it's making me very concerned about the future of the team. make a decision and stick to it. it's like what they say about drivers. the kind of driver that causes the most accidents on the road is not an aggresive driver, it's not a defensive driver...it's the indecisive driver.
bottom line: sacrificing the future by giving up hughes, melky, +2 others (marquez and someone else) is far too much to give up for a pitcher who's already had his best years and who wants us to invest another $120 million into him in his twilight years as an ace.
patience is the key here. how many impulse moves did we make in the 80's and early 90's that killed us in the long run? we have the talent to win for a long time. it might not be in 2008, but another dynasty is coming.
somebody get some balls up in tampa and the bronx and put your foot down on this issue and let's move forward.
i will do it by each division
al east
1.blue jays
2.red sox
3.devil rays(once midseason when all prospects come up....NASTY!!!)
4.yankees
5.orioles
al central
1.indians
2.twins(with johan and liriano all good 2 go)
3.tigers
4.royals
5.white sox
al west
1.angels
2.mariners
3.oakland(trading everyone away ya know?)
4.rangers(always pathetic in pitching)
overall
1.angels
2.blue jays
3.indians
4.red sox
5. twins
WOW anon, Twins over the Tigers, Jays over the Sox, D-Rays over the Yanks, Jays #2 in the AL and the Twins #5 in the AL. Since we're talking fantasy, I have my own top 5 ranking..
NY Knights ( Roy Hobbs will take the mound this year )
Durham Bulls ( 'Nuke' LaLoosh was sent back down )
California Angels in the Outfield ( Tony Danza and Danny Glover? CANT MISS! )
Chico's Bail Bonds ( Tatum O'Neal is gonna win the CY Young )
Iowa Farm White Sox ( Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson, need I say more? )
Well..at least you mixed it up, I guess anything can happen in Baseball.
Im with the people on this thread...getting sick of this back and forth BS with Johan.
LETS GO METS
LETS GO METS
SELL THE FARM
SELL THE FARM
Im really surprised that the LA teams are nowhere to be found during all this.
The team in Ray Kinsella's cornfield will kick all of those teams butts.
Best use Moonlight Graham as a defensive replacement
I saw the woman who played Kinsella's wife in that movie recently as she appeared in "Gone Baby Gone" and....time hasn't been kind to her. The movie was pretty good though.
Dru,
I'm with you, I thought the Dodgers would be all over Santana, especially now that they are managed by Joe Torre.
That would be Oscar nominee Amy Madigan... married to Oscar nominee Ed Harris.
No beauty queen but a good actress.
I love Ed Harris. Great actor. You know the producers and director of The Right Stuff had their hair stand on end when this guy came into audition.
"He's a great actor who just happens to look EXACTLY like John Glenn!"
Ohhhh look .... Georgie Porgies son FREDO has once again pulled a deal off the table....Can you say Pyschoooooooo???
Flip Flopper? Undecided? Clueless?
Please pick an adjective!
8******************************************************
That was yesterday. Today Georgie Porgies son FREDO is now back tracking.
Your organization is being run by a MORON ! Enjoy the 80's boys. They are back. Go get your Don Johnson suit out and throw away your socks. Loafers baby Loafers!
Enjoy !
The Yanks need to get Santana! He is YOUNG, PROVEN to be the BEST SP in AL and is LH. I think many of you on here are going to be shocked when you all realize that all these kids aren't going to pan out like you think. Then, their market value will become that of a Karstens or a Rasner, etc. Not that those guys are terrible, but they aren't going to bring you a Santana!!! Just beware fellas.
Hey Anonymoron:
Once again less intelligent people can’t add two plus two. These are the people who typically become victims of media hype because they’re not very bright to begin with. Hank clearly and unequivocally stated that his last offer was made at the Winter Meetings. Obviously that offer was rejected and Hank hasn’t made a new offer since then. However, he’s still willing to consider a suitable offer if the Twins become interested and approach him again. He hasn’t closed the door to a deal but he’s not actively seeking one either. Of course it’s his prerogative to change his mind – just as any intelligent businessman would consider doing (only a nitwit would be closed to further consideration of an important business deal). What’s so hard to comprehend about this simple concept?
The media has been constantly hounding Hank for comments about Santana and understandably so. But just because Hank makes a statement that isn’t exactly the same in wording as his last one doesn’t mean his stance has changed. There are many articles out there about Hank’s comments and they are quoted differently depending on the source. Hank’s words have been changed by reporters who have been taking them out of context and cutting off his sentences. Only lame-brained morons fall for this cute little technique.
THESE ARE HANK’S FINAL WORDS ON THE SUBJECT FROM MLB.COM (a trusted source). THEY MAKE PERFECT SENSE. IF THEY’RE ABOVE YOUR HEAD, PLEASE GO BACK TO KINDERGARTEN AND STAY AWAY FROM ADULT CONTENT.
“Hank Steinbrenner disagreed with the report's tone, telling the Bergen (N.J.) Record that the club has not had an official offer on the table for Santana since the Winter Meetings in early December. “There was no official offer," Steinbrenner said. "If there's an offer on the table, then that means you fully intend to do that deal. There is no offer right now." Steinbrenner, who has made little secret of his desire to acquire Santana, also said, "It doesn't mean that a final decision has been made."