O/T: Santana Trade

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Posted By: Bob

The Twins traded WS MVP Frank Viola to the Mets and got two young players who "had upside but no one knew how good they would be, it was a gamble." The two players were Rick Aguelaira and Keven Tapani who led the Twins to the WS championship 2 years later.
The Twins traded AS catcher Perzynski (sp) to Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser. Nathan has been the best closer in the AL the last 3 years (at least West of Boston), Liriano was THE MAN in 2006 on the Twins staff, not Santana. He had Tommy John surgery and is throwing better than ever. Bonser is a 3-4 pitcher in the rotation who is finally healthy and fit.
The Twins traded Chuck Knoblach, then arguably the best 2b in the AL for a "bag of rocks," Eric Milton who was superb for the Twins for several years, Cristian Guzman, a multiple AL All Star infielder, etc.
There is a reason the Twins have one of the best team of scouts and farm system people in baseball, they recognize talent. (Don't forget they picked up Santana as a non-protected player for peanuts because they saw something special in him.
Gomez WILL be better than Cabrera. He is younger, faster, has a stronger arm and more range defensively. He just needs to establish himself as a hitter. There are no flies on Humber or Mulvey either, they are starters in the rotation soon, albeit as 4-5 guys. Guerra is the real possible jewel in the deal. He is 2 years away but could be awesome if he continues to progress.
I think Santana peaked in 2006. He was very good, but not great last year. Hitters started laying off his circle change and waited on his fastball and hit it out of the park. I don't believe he won a single game last year against the Indians or Tigers and was not big in big games.
What were the Twins supposed to do, keep Santana and get nothing for him like they did with Hunter?
They made the best deal they could. The Red Sox and Yankees never really wanted Santana at the price, they just wanted to keep the other away. He's out of the AL now, that's good for Twins fans. Maurer-Morneau-Cuddyer, the heart of the team is signed long term, they have a super young pitching staff and more to come in the farm system. Getting Young was HUGE, he will be the power hitting slugging OFer they have needed for years.
Don't shed any tears for the Twins, they'll be competitive next year and with a few breaks and players coming through (and Punto on the bench) they will be a wild card contender.