Read: MetsBlog Q&A with Aaron Gleeman
Aaron Gleeman is a Twins fan, and freelance writer whose work can be found regularly at AaronGleeman.com, NBC Sports and Rotoworld.
…i spent a few minuted by phone with gleeman earlier today to try and gauge how Twins feel about the rumored packages being mentioned for Johan Santana…
Matthew Cerrone: It seems to me that the Minnesota reporters and the team’s GM are conveying this sense that Twins fans expect more than five unproven-prospects in a deal for Johan Santana, yet when I read Twins blogs and comments that does not appear to be the case – in fact, they seem to like the Mets prospects. So, what’s your take on what the Mets are rumored to be offering, compared to, say, Hughes or Ellsbury, etc…
Aaron Gleeman: You bring up a good point, in that the closer you get to a source or a report being mainstream, like a newspaper, the more they’re going to rely on well-known prospects, like Hughes, which is why I think people tend to lean more towards the Yankees deal. Fernando Martinez is a really good prospect, but he’s a teenager and he hasn’t been around as much as Hughes, or hyped as much as Hughes. So, I think that’s why you may see some Twins fans shy away from the Mets.
If Martinez is in the Mets package, I actually think it’s comparable to the Red Sox package, though I think I still might lean towards Hughes just because I tend to think they should go quality over quantity if possible in this type of deal.
You know, you’ve got to get at least one guy who you know will be a star, if not a super star.
Matthew Cerrone: So, let’s say the Twins have to accept the deal from the Mets, how do you think this sort of prospect-heavy package would go over among your fellow fans…
Aaron Gleeman: I think it’s gonna be tough no matter what, even if they get Hughes back or well-known guys like that. It’s gonna be a huge PR-hit, I can already see that, it’s already building – especially with Torii Hunter already leaving…It’s gonna be a big PR-hit either way, but I think people will be fine with the Mets package.
Matthew Cerrone: You may have insight in to this from two points of view, one as a Twins fan and one as a Fantasy guru: Have you picked up anything regarding a potential injury? There was the report by Buster Olney at his blog for ESPN.com the other day, and I know Johan had surgery on his elbow around five years ago. 
Should a team like the Mets be concerned at all, since he looked a bit off in the second half of last season…
Aaron Gleeman: Well, there are two possible things with Santana. Yes, he had the bone spurs removed in his elbow, which hasn’t been an issue – I don’t even think any one has talked about it in a couple of years. The second thing is, he some times deals with a cracked finger-nail on his pitching hand, which did bother him in the second half last year – I think it was closer to the All-Star break than the end of the season, though I don’t have the exact date…Since he struggled down the stretch, that’s definitely something people have pointed to as a possible explanation.
I saw the Olney article, and I think it was a bit of a stretch, from his stand point, to bring that up all of sudden and say maybe he was hurt. But, really, Santana has been a really streaky pitcher. He tends to, at least before last season, he would get off to sort of a slow start and then just be dominant in the second. Whereas last year, he was great in the first half then slowed down in the second half. If you flip that around there’s no injury concern, which is why I think it’s a little overblown.
Matthew Cerrone: If you were a Mets fan, knowing what you know of Santana, and knowing he wants a seven-year deal, and knowing what you know of the the Mets prospects, would you pull the trigger on that deal?
Aaron Gleeman: It’s a little tough for me to do, because it’s such an opposite situation from a Twins perspective. We never think like that. You have to always be planning, who is our best prospect at Low Single-A and how many years of service time do we get out of him before he leaves via free agency. Whereas, I imagine you guys think, as Mets fans, we might as well try to compete and go for a 95–win team every year because we have the resources to do that. They can do it through the draft, and hand out big signings bonuses, or through the International signings, like how you got Martinez to begin with – they can always sort of restock the system if you go for broke on a guy like Santana, which I think makes it a decent trade.
I think they’d be over-paying if they gave up Martinez, Gomez and the three main pitchers, especially if you have to give Santana $150 million. But, the Mets are one of a few teams who can make that overpayment, in terms of prospects and money, because they have money and they can restock with prospects a lot easier than a team like the Twins can.
