Daily Archives: December 8, 2007
…having talked with a variety of people over the last few days, ranging from those who are connected to the team to people connected to player reps to those who work in media and for teams who are following the negotiations, from what i can gather, Johan Santana prefers to be on the 
Mets, where he can a) be in New York City, and b) get out of the hitter-dominant American League…
…the Twins are well aware of this, and are willing to accommodate his request, while also trying to maximize the level of talent they get in return…
…so, over the last few days, if not longer, the Twins have been speaking on and off with the Mets, who are willing to flood them with young talent, but who refuse to provide a major-league ready, immediate-impact player, like Jose Reyes…
…since the Yankees and Red Sox will not part with more than one or two of their best prospects, acquiring up to five or six semi-developed, high-ceiling players from the Mets is starting to be Minnesota’s most attractive option, and they’re comfortable with that – especially considering that santana can ‘strongly suggest’ he end up in Queens, seeing as he has a full no-trade clause…as such, the Mets and Twins have essentially agreed upon what players can and cannot be involved in the trade, and so it’s now up to santana and his agents to frame out a contract extension…
…however, while santana wants a seven-year contract, the Mets – like most teams – will not offer more than five…and understandably so, since a) it is nearly impossible to get such a contract insured, especially for a pitcher, and b) it is widely believed that the Yankees and Red Sox will not have offered him such a long-term deal either…at the same time, he is the best pitcher in baseball, and believes he should be compensated at or above the same level as Barry Zito, which is understandable, as well…the thing is, i do sense that he and his agents are willing to work out a solution to get him to Queens, and so they will not take a hard-line position like zito and Scott Boras did…
…in other words, from what i can tell, if santana doesn’t end up on the Mets, it most likely means that either a) he and the Mets could not agree to the terms of a contract extension, b) the Twins simply chose to keep him for one more opening day, or c) the Twins had no choice but to skip over the Mets to accept a much-better offer that they couldn’t refuse, and santana did not stand in their way, which all is still very possible…
…i still do not have my hopes up, but i do have hope…
The Mets, SNY, and New York Cares will host 
their 2nd Annual Mets Warm-Up Coat Drive on December 12 and 13 at Shea Stadium from 8 am to 6 pm.
Each donor will receive a voucher redeemable for a pair of tickets to a select Mets game in April of the 2008 season.
For more information, go to Mets.com.
Tagged Shea Stadium |In a report for Newsday, Ken Davidoff reports that the Yankees have met with 31 year-old Japanese RHP Kazuo Fukumori, who has drawn interest from 10 teams, including the Padres, Rays, Nationals, Royals, and Red Sox.
Davidoff cites a scout as saying Fukumori could be sixth or seventh inning pitcher, adding that he’s ‘not bad.’
Meanwhile, according to the New York Post, Luis Vizcaino is not likely to return to the Yankees, whose interest in the relief pitcher has seemingly cooled.
Last week, at her blog for Newsday, Kat O’Brien wrote that the Mets and Yankees were among several teams who had talked with Vizcaino, who is seeking a four-year, $19-million contract.
…i’m getting the sense that the Mets have no real intention of giving a long-term contract to a relief pitcher, and it’s about time…they have Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman, Scott 
Schoeneweis, Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez, plus Joe Smith and a collection of young triple-a arms who could have an impact, plus he just picked up Steven Register in the Rule V Draft…i know some people will want to see a more established name acquired for the bullpen, but, seriously, when has that ever helped…look around the league, as i have pointed out before, every season it appears that the best bullpen in baseball popped up out of no place, with pitchers most people had no expectations for…it’s a crapshoot…
…frankly, i think improving the team’s defense up in the middle may be the single best thing the team could do to help the pitching staff…also, if the Mets really want to make a difference out there, they should listen to wagner and carve out set roles for these guys by at least mid-summer, which is something Willie Randolph has seemingly no interest doing…
According to MLB.com, the Indians will soon announce that they have acquired 2B-3B Jamey Carroll from the Rockies for a player to be named.
…there had been some buzz during the Winter Meetings that suggested such a trade like this could help facilitate a deal between the Indians and Pirates for, what i assume would be, Jason Bay, since there were other rumors linking him to pittsburgh in excahnge for Indians LHP Cliff Lee…
..earlier in the off-season, during the GM Meetings in Orlando, Mets GM Omar Minaya had lunch with Indians GM Mark Shapirio, which fueled speculation that the Mets could be targeting lee…
Nevertheless, according to Peter Gammons, in recent a post to his blog for ESPN.com, wrote that trading Lastings Milledge probably ended Minaya’s chances of acquiring Lee, who the Indians will listen to proposals for, ‘but won’t trade unless they get overwhelmed.’
