Buzz: Omar Not Conceding Santana
In today’s Daily News, John Harper writes that, despite new Yankees’ Senior Vice President Hank Steinbrenner’s confirmation of talks between his team and the Twins, Mets’ GM Omar Minaya will be pushing hard to land Minnesota’s ace left hander Johan Santana in Queens.
Harper quotes one baseball executive as saying:
“He always wants to do something big, and this is a time when he needs to do something big. And this is as big as it gets for him. I believe he’ll exhaust every possibility, even if it means getting other teams involved, to make a deal for Santana.”
As for speculation that Minaya could include shortstop Jose Reyes in a deal for Santana, the executive said:
“I know he wouldn’t want to… But I do believe he’ll think long and hard about it if he absolutely has to. As explosive as Reyes is, Omar needs pitching to win a championship, and it has become so hard these days to acquire front-line pitching that I think he’d have to consider it.”
On the subject of trading Reyes, yesterday on SNY’s Daily News, host Chris Cotter talked with Adam Rubin of the Daily News and Chris Carlin of WFAN about whether or not the Mets should consider trading Jose Reyes for Santana.
To watch a clip of the discussion, click here.
In his article, Harper notes that the Yankees have a deeper farm system from which to deal, but as always, that advantage is contingent on whether or not they’re willing to deal the prospects, such as right hander Phil Hughes, that the Twins would demand in exchange for Santana.
…it doesn’t help the yankees if they are unwilling to unload those top prospects, while omar is seemingly open to just about anything, save dealing David Wright, to get his man… this has a chance to be a bloody inter-borough war, one that the mets seem to think they can’t afford to lose…
Meanwhile, Rubin and Mark Feinsand in another article in today’s Daily News handicap the chances of each team hoping to land Santana.
The Mets are fourth, at eight to one, following the Yankees at 3-1, Red Sox at 4-1 and Angels at 5-1. However, it notes that Boston is uninterested right now in trading OF Jacoby Ellsbury, while the Angels are concentrating their efforts on acquiring Florida 3B Miguel Cabrera. Los Angeles would most likely also balk at the cost of extending Santana’s contract, as well as trading P Jered Weaver.
…this could get very interesting… the mets clearly can’t put together the strongest package, so they have to hope neither boston or either los angeles team actively pursues santana… or Dan Haren, for that matter, in case the yankees do decide to give up the crown jewels…
…you know those mets’ prospects list i’ve been blogging about? they could look very different (read: barren) within a few weeks time…
