Hughes Headed To The Twin Cities

For a fly ball pitcher, Phil Hughes picked a new team that plays its home games in a place where home runs don't leave the park so easily. According to the Star Tribune's La velle E. Neill, the former 1st round pick (23rd overall in the 2004 amateur draft) of the New York Yankees has agreed to a three-year, $24MM deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Hughes had been a disappointment with the Yankees; he was never able to live up the hype or potential that was expected of him. The product of Foothill High School in California, Hughes made his Yankees debut at age 20 in April, 2007. His second big league start saw him throw 6.1 no-hit innings against the Texas Rangers at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.  But with then Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira at the plate, Hughes pulled a hamstring when he tried to get extra torque on his curveball and had to leave the game.

It was his first Major League win, but he wouldn't get a second until August due an injured ankle that occurred while he treated his hamstring. Various injuries (rib cage) and "situations" (dead arm) followed him for the rest of his Yankees career, but that potential was still there. He was a big reason the Yankees won the World Series in 2009 after he moved to the bullpen in the second of the season and was outstanding.

It seemed to carry over a year later when he was back in the rotation and made the All-Star team. Though he finished with 18 wins, he struggled in the second half and was routed by the Rangers in a pair of post-season starts. The Yankees still had high hopes for Hughes after a strong finish in the 2012 season. But this past season was more of the same - too many home runs allowed (59 over the last 2 years), too much inconsistency, and too many losses. His days in the Bronx officially came to a close when the team didn't make him a qualifying offer in early November.

His final numbers for the team in the Bronx read 56-50, 4.54 ERA in 132 starts and 50 relief appearances.
Still just 27-years old, Hughes will get a fresh start at Target Field, which yielded an AL low 1.75 home runs per game in 2013.

Even the Twins Give Hughes the Blues

The Yankees entered Saturday with a 5-0 record this season against their opponent, the Minnesota Twins. Their record against the Twins since 2009? 26-7. That doesn't include their playoff victory that year on the path to their 27th World Series title. The Twins have been eliminated from the playoffs by the New Yorkers in 2003, 2004, and 2010 as well. The Yankees have treated the Twins like every day is Cindo de Mayo and the Twins are a pinata that the team has continually busted open with a 42 oz. bat.

None of that mattered yesterday when Minnesota won their first game of the six played this season. Phil Hughes pitched an outstanding game, tying his career high with 10 strikeouts, but with this Yankees lineup you cannot give up runs. Phil Hughes did just that as he was once again haunted by the long ball. Three of them to be exact.

Hughes have up an early blast to Trevor Plouffe to tie the game at 1-1 after Robinson Cano had provided an RBI single in the 1st inning. Rookie Sam Deduno allowed six hits and three walks in seven innings, but the Yankees failed time and again to get another run on the board.  Perhaps the worst moment came with runners on the corners and two outs in the 4th.

Zoilo Almonte broke from first in an attempt to steal second base. Vernon Wells headed for home as soon as catcher Ryan Doumit's throw attempted to cut down Almonte. The rookie then made a rookie mistake - instead of stopping short of second base to allow Wells to score, Almonte slid in to the bag and was tagged by out Pedro Florimon, well ahead of Wells reaching home plate.

It was one of the best chances the team would get as Deduno and the Twins relievers kept the Yankees runners stranded at first base. Cano 1st inning hit was the only one in a measly four chances with runners in scoring position (RISP).

With the game still tied in the 7th, Doumit lined a home run a couple of rows deep in right field to put the Twins ahead for good. Hughes' day ended when he surrendered a 2-run shot to Florimon in the 8th. For a team struggling to score runs, a three run deficit is too much to come back from.

Kuroda, Rain, and Pen Dominate the Twins

Kuroda has been the Yankees ace and should be an All-Star

I am starting to honestly believe the Yankees could win 160 of 162 meetings with the Minnesota Twins. Last night the Yankees endured a 73 minute rain delay to win their 5th straight meeting with the Twins this season and their 3rd straight win overall.

Hiroki Kuroda lowered his league leading ERA to 2.65 (Just 1.74 at Yankee Stadium) by throwing five innings (one after the delay) of six hit ball in a 2-0 Yankees win. The Yankees pen, particularly Boone Logan, came up big over the final four innings.

The Yankees had managed just one hit in 3.1 innings off Twins starter Scott Diamond, but jumped on Ryan Pressly in the 5th for a pair of runs. Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano provided RBI singles to account for the Yankees runs.

Yankees reliever Preston Claiborne breezed through the 6th, but put two aboard in the 7th. A call to the bullpen sent Logan in to the rescue. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire called for Chad Parmalee to bunt the runners on first and second over, but the right fielder fouled off two attempts and then Logan struck him out swinging.

Logan's real challenge came up next though- the back to back duo of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. To make matters worse, Logan gave the Twins the equivalent of a bunt when he wild pitched the runners over a base. But the left-hander caught Mauer looking with a curve ball for strike three and Morneau couldn't hold up his swing for an inning ending strikeout. A disgusted Morneau flipped his bat in the air and threw his helmet, but was not tossed from the game.

Mariano Rivera picked up his 30th save with a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Notes

The Twins displayed some remarkable defensive plays in the game, no better than when Aaron Hicks threw out Vernon Wells trying to stretch a double into a triple. A fan use Google Earth to estimate the throw was 325 feet.

Grandy Trifecta Bails Out Hughes

When Curtis Granderson was struggling during the 2010 season, my Dad kept telling me how awful he was;what a mistake the trade had been. My brother and I kept telling him, just wait, this guy is a legitimate star. While we weren't the reason, we were right.

Granderson's bat was sluggish that season until he worked hard with hitting coach Kevin Long to make adjustments. Granderson got hot down the stretch and exploded last year with an MVP type year- 41 HRs, a .916 OPS, 26 doubles, 10 triples, and a league lead 119 RBI and 136 runs scored. The left-handed hitting Granderson was a notoriously poor hitter against southpaws, but actually hit better against left-handers than righties in 2011 (.940 OPS 16 HR in 191 AB).

Thursday night Granderson had the first three home run game of his career. Down 4-0 in the first after some shaky pitching from Phil Hughes and a costly error by Eduardo Nunez, Granderson started the Yankees hit parade with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st off of lefty Anthony Swarzak. He took the Twins starter deep again an inning later, this time with a man aboard to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead.

In the 4th, Granderson's home run, his 6th of the year, proved to be the difference maker in the Yankees 7-6 victory. This time the victim was Twins' right-handed reliever Jeff Gray.

By the time Granderson stepped up to the plate again in the 6th, many people were no longer thinking about another rough start for Hughes. The right-hander hadn't made it out of the 5th inning in his first two starts and, for a time, didn't look like he would get out of the 1st inning Thursday evening. Granted his pitch count rose quickly in the first frame due to Nunez's throwing error from 2nd base.

Playing in place of Robinson Cano, who started at DH, Nunez fielded Joe Mauer's grounder with one out and one on and lollipopped his throw to 1st base. Mark Teixeira leapt up to grab the errant throw, but couldn't get a tag on Mauer. The Twins took advantage when Ryan Doumit stroked a 2-run single and Danny Valencia added a 2-run double.

Hughes got better as the game went on, but he walked Justin Morneau to start the 6th inning and then surrendered a 2-run home run to Doumit to end his night. But the Yankees bullpen was sharp. Boone Logan finished the 6th and was followed by the usual sequence of Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera. The Yankees closer picked up his third save of the season to salvage a split of the four game series and put the Yankees back above .500 at 7-6.

The story line though was Granderson, who stepped up to the plate in the 6th against Alex Burnett and ripped a hard single to right. Nunez, who was on 2nd base, had to hold up to be sure the ball wasn't caught and had to stop at third. In the 8th, Granderson got one more chance to join the four-home run club, but hit a dribbler. The good news is that he beat the throw to first for a 5-5 night that raised his batting average 75 points.

The Captain Climbs The Ladder

Derek Jeter had just one hit on the night, and RBI single in the 2nd, but it was the 3,110th of his career. That was good enough to tie him with his idol Dave Winfield for 19th on the all-time hits list. Jeter needs 31 hits to catch Tony Gwynn for 18th place.

The Last Trifecta
According to the YES Network, August 14, 2010 was the last time a Yankee hit three home runs in one game. That was courtesy of Alex Rodriguez in KC.

Nova Ramps Up ROY Resume

After all the agita caused by A.J. Burnett's performance and subsequent tantrum, it was a pleasure to watch Sunday afternoon's outstanding performance by Ivan Nova. The result was a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins and concluded a 5-2 road trip. One of the leading candidates for AL Rookie of the Year, Nova was at his best in the 5th inning when the Minnesota Twins put two aboard with no one out.

After Jim Thome's lead off single, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher nearly collided and missed Danny Valencia's fly ball for a gift double. Nova, not a strikeout pitcher, needed one with two runners in scoring position. Not only did he get one, but he got two. First Nova threw one a third strike past outfielder Rene Tosoni and followed it up by getting Matt Tolbert to chase a pitch out of the strike zone. Drew Butera then hit a harmless grounder to Mark Teixeira and a fired up Nova came out of the inning unscathed.

Nova improved to 13-4, 3.97 and has won his last six starts. Nova picked up the win in his last start despite having allowed seven earned runs in 5.1 innings. In the other five decisions, Nova has a 1.93 ERA, and has struck out 24 compared to seven walks. Overall, the rookie has won his last nine decisions, the first time a Yankees pitcher had done that since Whitey Ford was a pup in 1950. In doing so, Nova put himself at the forefront of the rookie voting along with Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo and Rays pitcher Jeremy Hellickson.

The Yankees wasted some early opportunities against Twins starter Nick Blackburn, who left the game in the 2nd inning with a forearm strain, but not before loading the bases. Lefty Andy Swardzak came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Eduardo Nunez and got Derek Jeter on a hard liner to right.

The Yankees finally broke through in the 6th when Robinson Cano doubled off Phil Dumatrait and came around on fly outs by Nick Swisher and Russell Martin. The Twins put two runners on in the bottom of the 6th, but Nova struck out Thome to strand them. And again the Yankees answered with offense in their half of the inning.

Curtis Granderson hit a deep drive off of Jose Mijares to right-center that appeared would be his 35th home run of the season. But the ball against one of Target Field's high walls and shot between centerfielder Ben Revere and right fielder Luke Hughes. Granderson raced around the bases and was waved home by third base coach Rob Thomson. Granderson slid in well ahead of the throw for an inside-the-park home run. The Grandy Man got his 35th after all to tie Jose Bautista for the MLB lead.

The Yankees weren't done yet though. Mark Teixeira, hitting from the right side, smacked a laser into the left field seats for a 3-0 lead. It was Teixeira's 34th of the season. Nova tired, but finished seven innings before turning things over to the pen. There was some more excitement in the 9th when David Robertson did one of his high wire acts. The Twins put runners on the corners with one out, but D-Rob struck out Jason Kubel for the second out. A Thome walk loaded the bases, but Robertson retired Valencia on a harmless fly to Swisher in right to end the frame.

Notes

Alex Rodriguez was activated prior to the game and went 0-5 in his first game since July 7. Aaron Laffey was sent to the minors to make room on the roster.

Derek Jeter had an infield single his first time up and finished the road trip 14-31 (.452).

The Yankees had Monday off before starting a three game series at home against the Oakland A's.

Factoid from the YES Network; since 2002, playoffs included, the Yankees are 62-20 against the Twins.

Twins Have Their Phil Of Yankees

The Minnesota Twins have been perennial contenders in the AL Central for more than a decade, but this year has been a complete disaster. Injuries, sub-par performance...basically anything that can go wrong has for Minnesota in 2011 has gone wrong. It can't help their psyche any to be facing the Yankees right now considering the beat down the New Yorkers have constantly put on the state whose politicians have ranged from Jesse Ventura to Al Franken to Michelle Bachmann (nutty, nuttier, nuttiest?).

The Yankees pounded Kevin Slowey and the Twins Friday night 8-1 to take the first two games of the four game set. The Twins will have a chance to add to A.J. Burnett's misery on Saturday, but there are no guarantees, except for tough times, for the Twins. (Who I picked to win the division)

Last night's game was about the battery of Phil Hughes and catcher Russell Martin. Hughes was at his best and has gotten stronger in each of his most recent outings since he returned from a long stint on the DL with a strained shoulder. After he gave up a solo home run to Trevor Plouffe (what a great name) in the 1st inning, Hughes kept the Twins hitless until the non-related Luke Hughes singled in the 8th.

Hughes had a lively fastball with movement and 70 of his 106 pitches were for strikes., and went the deepest he had into a ballgame all year. In his last four starts Hughes has allowed six earned runs in 25.2 innings (2.10 ERA) and has limited opponents to 18 hits. Half of those came in one outing against the A's.

Martin helped his buddy out by homering off of Slowey in the 3rd and 6th innings. He smacked a hanging breaking ball into the left field seats to tie the game at 1-1 and then with a man aboard turned on a fastball for his 15th home run of the season. Martin, who also homered in his last appearance on Thursday, hit a combined 12 home runs his last two seasons in LA. Both players were complimentary of each other's performance after the game when speaking with reporters. And Hughes has put his arm back in the race for a top three playoff start.

Notes

Mark Teixeira knocked in three runs and reached 1,000 RBI in his career.

Thanks to @yestoresearch for answering my question, "Who was the last Yankees catcher, if any, to hit three home runs in a single game?" The answer - Mike Stanley in 1995 and Bill Dickey in 1936 were the Yankees catchers to perform the feat.

Derek Jeter had two more hits to raise his average to .292.

Remembering The Killer | Baseball Digest

Remembering The Killer | Baseball Digest

No nickname was probably more misleading than that of Harmon “The Killer” Killebrew. The gentle giant (actually he was listed as just 6′, 195 lbs) was one of baseball’s greats, both on and off the field. Sadly, he succumbed to esophageal cancer on Tuesday at age 74, just four days after he ended his cancer treatment and entered hospice care.

Killebrew was born in Payette, ID on June 29, 1936 and became a 17-yr old star in Idaho’s semi-pro baseball. He became the Washington Nationals first “bonus baby” after being recommonded to the club by Idaho senator Herman Welker and the Senators’ farm director Ossie Bluege.

“Killebrew swings a bat better than any youngster I’ve ever seen”, Bluege told the team’s owners. He added that “Perhaps the only player who is faster in the American League is Mickey Mantle of the Yankees.” Killebrew was given a whopping $50K to sign with the club in 1954.

Though he made nine appearances and made a good impression for the Senators in 1954, Killebrew spent most of the new few years in the minor leagues. But in 1958, Killebrew unleashed his bat on the American League and there was to be no going back to the long bus rides in the minors. Though he was never one to hit for average, he was a .256 lifetime hitter, Killebrew’s first full season in the Majors saw him hit 42 home runs and drove home 105 runs. It was the first of six home runs titles he won and the first of eight seasons in which he hit 40 or more home runs.

Bob Addie of the Washington Post profiled Harmon Killebrew during his final season in baseball in 1975. Click here to read this Baseball Digest Classic.

Killebrew was a member of 11 All-Star teams, won the AL MVP Award in 1969 when he hit .276-49-140 and walked 140 times, and was a member of the 1965 World ChampionTwins. He was also a member of a pair of division winners in 1969-1970. People forget just how versatile Killebrew was; in addition to a combined 1,760 games played between first and third base, he also played 470 games in the outfield.

Killebrew was released by the Twins after the 1975 season and played one more year with the Kansas City Royals before he retired from baseball. His 573 career home runs, most of them tape-measure shots, and his 1,584 RBI earned him induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. The street that fronted old Metropolitan Stadium (now site of the Mall of America) was named “Killebrew Drive” in his honor, his number three was retired, and Gate 3 of the new Target Field was named in tribute to him. Among his many charitables efforts was the start of the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament in honor of his former teammate who died of leukemia in 1976 at age 29. Killebrew helped to raise more than $8MM for leukemia and cancer research.

After retirement, Killebrew worked as a broadcaster and hitting instructor, and later was involved in the securities industry. He first suffered esophogeal issues in the early 1990′s and was diagnosed with cancer last December. He is survived by his second wife, Nita, nine children, 23 grand-children and two great grand-children.

FullCountPitch - A Decade Of Number Ones: Part I

Making draft selections is a gamble in any sport, but no more so than with the Major League Baseball draft that takes place every June. Teams stockpile high school and college players over a 50 round selection process. The majority will never get the chance to play in any Major League Stadium, while others will surprise and grow into a starring role.

The most pressure, of course, is to be the number one selection overall. For every Joe Mauer, there is a Brien Taylor or a Danny Goodwin, who was actually the top pick in two different years (1971, 1975). With that in mind, it’s time to take a look back at the first overall picks in the last ten years of the MLB amateur (Rule IV) draft.

Read the rest of the free article at fullcountpitch.com

Matt Bush Bryan Bullington Justin Upton Delmon Young

Twins Lock Up Capps

The Minnesota Twins have made a move to strengthen their bullpen, but time will tell if it's a good move. The Twins have acquired Washington Nationals' closer Matt Capps for highly touted catching prospect Wilson Ramos.

Capps, 3-3 with 25 saves and a 2.80 ERA, will set up another former Nats' reliever Jon Rauch. But the price is high. Ramos was rated this past winter by Baseball America as the number 2 prospect in the Twins' organization. It's an awful lot to give up for a set up guy.

Meanwhile, Aaron Gleeman has just tweeted that the Twins are also sending Joe Testa, a left-hander out of Wagner College, to the Nats as well.

UPDATE 11:11 AM 7/30 - Word came last night that the Twins will use Capps as closer and move Rauch to the set up role. AL only fantasy league owners are scrambling!

Twins it is

71% of you who took our poll wanted the Twins to be the Yankees opponent. For better or worse, you got your wish. It took 12 innings of exciting baseball yesterday before Minnesota finally beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 in their one game playoff.

Alexi Casilla singled home Carlos Gomez with the winning run off closer Fernando Rodney, who was working his 4th inning. Rodney had already blown a one run lead in the 10th, but manger Jim Leyland decided he was the only guy to go to.

The Division Series starts this evening at 6 p.m. EDT with CC Sabathia facing rookie Brian Duensing. Stay tuned for a more in-depth ALDS preview later today.

Tigers, Twins - Pick Your Poison

While the Yankees get their regulars some rest this week, they'll also be keeping an eye on the Detroit Tigers-Minnesota Twins series that could determine the AL Central winner and the Yankees first round opponent in this year's post-season.

The Tigers entered the four game series with a two game lead. After a rain out on Monday, the two teams are meeting in a day-night doubleheader today, followed by single games on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.

While the Twins have been red hot down the stretch, they are still the team the Yankees should want to play in the division series. And the reasons are pretty obvious.

1. The Yankees have dominated the Twins in recent years, including this season, winning all seven games between the two teams.

2. The Twins have no clear cut ace. While they have solid, dependable pitchers, none of them stands out as does the Tigers' Justin Verlander does.

3. The Twins have likely MVP Joe Mauer in their lineup as well as the hot hitting Michael Cuddyer. But there will be no Justin Morneau. Though the Twins scored more runs than the Tigers during the season, the Tigers have a more threatening lineup.

4. While Tigers' closer Fernando Rodney has converted 35 of 36 save opportunities, he's not an intimidating presence. The same can be said for Twins' closer Joe Nathan, whom the Yankees have had success against in previous post-seasons.

5. Some people are concerned about the Twins running game, but Minnesota had only 83 stolen bases entering today's play (the Tigers have 72). Really nothing to worry about.

So there you have it, the main reasons the Yankees should want to play the Twins. The top reason is the top reason for a reason. Okay, that sentence made me dizzy. The bottom line is that the Yankees beat up on the Twins and should want to play them over Detroit.

But what do you think? Take the new poll and let me know.

A Perfect May Sunday for Baseball

We don't know how today's Yankees-Twins game will turn out, but we do know how their meeting went on May 17, 1998. That it is when David Wells, to paraphrase John Sterling, "achieved baseball immortality".

The man known as Boomer retired all 27 batters he faced, the final- Pat Meares, hit a lazy fly ball that nestled into the glove of right fielder Paul O'Neill for a 4-0 Yankees win.

A joyous celebration followed. The Yankees were so fired up they actually lifted Wells off the ground. No one in their right mind would have attempted that under normal circumstances! (Perhaps that's why Bernie Williams had so much shoulder trouble at the end of his career.)

Wells' opponent that day was future Yankee LaTroy Hawkins. One year later David Cone would achieve perfection against another future Yankee, Javier Vazquez. Needless to say, neither opponent worked out too well in pinstripes.

A.J. Burnett faces Kevin Slowey today, so if somehow Burnett were to match the feat, Slowey would know where his future lies.

Box Score

Twins Closing in on Crede

SI's Jon Heyman is reporting that the Twins are close to bringing in Joe Crede to fill their third base vacancy.

After putting up career numbers (30 HR, 94 RBI) in 2006, Crede was limited to just 144 games over the last two seasons due to back trouble.

The contract is expected to be heavily laden with incentives.

Breaking Down the Santana Trade

When we first heard the Johan Santana deal announced yesterday, we reacted with a combination of relief (that the Red Sox hadn't landed him) and shock (that's all the Twins got?!). There are a couple of factors though that can play into our final feelings on the trade.

La Velle E. Neal III (what a name!) of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that Johan Santana told the Twins he would not waive his no-trade clause if he was not dealt by Tuesday (yesterday). Santana has completely denied similar ultimatums that were attributed to him during this whole process. If it's true than the Twins did indeed have their hands tied in making a deal.
Peter Abraham of the Journal News reported that Twins' GM Bill Smith went back to both the Yankees and Red Sox in one last attempt to get the best deal possible. Both Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein said no to lower packages.

So Smith took the Mets deal which was no fantastic assortment of players. Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. Let's take a look at each of them.

Carlos Gomez has the too much bandied about tag of "5-tool player" thrown around his neck. For those of you who don't know, a 5-tool player is one who grades at high skills in hitting for average, hitting with power, speed, defense, and arm strength. It can pan out in a player like Alex Rodriguez, but more times than not it usually results in players like Michael Coleman, who never translate minor league success to the majors.

Gomez hit .232 in 58 games with the Mets in '07 with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts. His minor league numbers have never shown the power potential of a 5-tool player, and unless this 22-yr old bulks up, he's not going to either. Like a lot of Latin American ball players, Gomez is a free swinger who strikes out too often, and doesn't walk enough for a guy with his speed.

Whether or not the Twins make him their immediate replacement for Torii Hunter, remains to be seen. Gomez could probably use a full-season at Triple-A, or at the very least, platoon with a left-handed hitter (he only hit .212 against righties) his first year in Minnesota.

Mets fans have been hearing about Phil Humber for quite some time now. The 25-yr old spent 3 season at Rice University before joining the Mets in 2005. In 3 minor league seasons, Humber has a 4.11 ERA. In '07, his first at Triple-A, he went 11-9, 4.27 with 44 walks and 120 Ks in 139 innings pitched. Despite some moderate success, the Mets didn't think he was the answer to their starting rotation woes last season.

Humber did come up for a couple of looks the past 2 years, including a start in the heat of the pennant race in late September. The Nationals tagged him for 5 runs on 6 hits, including a home run, in 4 innings pitched. He'll probably start the season at Triple-A.

Kevin Mulvey is a New Jersey boy, who spent 3 years at Villanova. He split 4 games in '06 at Rookie ball and Double-A, and spent all but one game at Double-A in '07. His numbers weren't overly impressive at 'nova, but he showed promise at Binghamton last year, going 11-10, 3.26 with 43 walks and 110 Ks in 151.2 IP.

Mulvey obviously wasn't in the Mets system long enough to get a real idea of what he can do. He'll join Humber in Triple-A.

Deolis Guerra will turn just 19 on April 17 and has spent 2 years at the 'A' and advanced 'A' levels. The Venezuelan born right-hander went 9-14, 3.28 with 68 walks and 135 Ks in 178.2 innings pitched. It will be a few years before Guerra will have an impact at the major league level. He should start the season in Double-A.

On paper, it looks like the Twins got hosed, but time will tell. Though they will be paying a small fortune to Santana, this was an excellent deal for the Mets.

The only real downside for Yankees fans is having to listen to obnoxious Mets fans crow about Santana on WFAN. But at least we still have Phil Hughes.

Breaking Down the Santana Trade

When we first heard the Johan Santana deal announced yesterday, we reacted with a combination of relief (that the Red Sox hadn't landed him) and shock (that's all the Twins got?!). There are a couple of factors though that can play into our final feelings on the trade.

La Velle E. Neal III (what a name!) of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that Johan Santana told the Twins he would not waive his no-trade clause if he was not dealt by Tuesday (yesterday). Santana has completely denied similar ultimatums that were attributed to him during this whole process. If it's true than the Twins did indeed have their hands tied in making a deal.
Peter Abraham of the Journal News reported that Twins' GM Bill Smith went back to both the Yankees and Red Sox in one last attempt to get the best deal possible. Both Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein said no to lower packages.

So Smith took the Mets deal which was no fantastic assortment of players. Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. Let's take a look at each of them.

Carlos Gomez has the too much bandied about tag of "5-tool player" thrown around his neck. For those of you who don't know, a 5-tool player is one who grades at high skills in hitting for average, hitting with power, speed, defense, and arm strength. It can pan out in a player like Alex Rodriguez, but more times than not it usually results in players like Michael Coleman, who never translate minor league success to the majors.

Gomez hit .232 in 58 games with the Mets in '07 with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts. His minor league numbers have never shown the power potential of a 5-tool player, and unless this 22-yr old bulks up, he's not going to either. Like a lot of Latin American ball players, Gomez is a free swinger who strikes out too often, and doesn't walk enough for a guy with his speed.

Whether or not the Twins make him their immediate replacement for Torii Hunter, remains to be seen. Gomez could probably use a full-season at Triple-A, or at the very least, platoon with a left-handed hitter (he only hit .212 against righties) his first year in Minnesota.

Mets fans have been hearing about Phil Humber for quite some time now. The 25-yr old spent 3 season at Rice University before joining the Mets in 2005. In 3 minor league seasons, Humber has a 4.11 ERA. In '07, his first at Triple-A, he went 11-9, 4.27 with 44 walks and 120 Ks in 139 innings pitched. Despite some moderate success, the Mets didn't think he was the answer to their starting rotation woes last season.

Humber did come up for a couple of looks the past 2 years, including a start in the heat of the pennant race in late September. The Nationals tagged him for 5 runs on 6 hits, including a home run, in 4 innings pitched. He'll probably start the season at Triple-A.

Kevin Mulvey is a New Jersey boy, who spent 3 years at Villanova. He split 4 games in '06 at Rookie ball and Double-A, and spent all but one game at Double-A in '07. His numbers weren't overly impressive at 'nova, but he showed promise at Binghamton last year, going 11-10, 3.26 with 43 walks and 110 Ks in 151.2 IP.

Mulvey obviously wasn't in the Mets system long enough to get a real idea of what he can do. He'll join Humber in Triple-A.

Deolis Guerra will turn just 19 on April 17 and has spent 2 years at the 'A' and advanced 'A' levels. The Venezuelan born right-hander went 9-14, 3.28 with 68 walks and 135 Ks in 178.2 innings pitched. It will be a few years before Guerra will have an impact at the major league level. He should start the season in Double-A.

On paper, it looks like the Twins got hosed, but time will tell. Though they will be paying a small fortune to Santana, this was an excellent deal for the Mets.

The only real downside for Yankees fans is having to listen to obnoxious Mets fans crow about Santana on WFAN. But at least we still have Phil Hughes.

Cy Santana

Jon Heyman is reporting that the Twins have made Johann Santana a multi-year offer, but initial follow ups have said Santana said, "no thanks". Most MLB GMs feel that Santana will remain a Twin, at least until the trade deadline, in '08.

Considering the deals that Barry Zito (7-yr, $126 mill) and Carlos Zambrano (5-yr, $91.5 mill) have received, Santana should make $20 mill per season.

Source

Cy Santana

Jon Heyman is reporting that the Twins have made Johann Santana a multi-year offer, but initial follow ups have said Santana said, "no thanks". Most MLB GMs feel that Santana will remain a Twin, at least until the trade deadline, in '08.

Considering the deals that Barry Zito (7-yr, $126 mill) and Carlos Zambrano (5-yr, $91.5 mill) have received, Santana should make $20 mill per season.

Source