By far the biggest prize in the MLB trade market this off season was Minnesota Twins lefty Johan Santana - well it is just reported that the New York Mets won the sweepstakes.
The deal for Santana, which is pending a contract extension and physical, consists of the Mets sending outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins for what many people feel is the best pitcher in baseball.
Because Santana had a full no-trade clause in his contact he was able to control what team he would be willing to be traded to. Over the past few months only a couple of teams have actively been talking with the Twins - the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox being the top two contenders. The Mets were willing to part with whatever the Twins wanted, something the Yankees and Red Sox wouldn’t do, and will probably sign Santana to a huge extension - my guess would be the deal would cover 6 years and about $160 million. The Twins offered Santana a 4 year deal worth about $80 million which he rejected.
Adding a healthy Santana to their roster, the Mets will become a division favorite right off the bat - the only question is, did they give up to much talent and will suffer in the long run?
