Let’s go Mets!
The Twins made out pretty good on the deal themselves. An outfielder, three pitchers, all of them young. This is going to be interesting for both teams.
Woo AND Hoo !!!
less than 70 days until Game 1 !!!
The best of all possible worlds, as far as I’m concerned - Boston didn’t get him, and the Yankees didn’t have to give up their young pitchers or Cabrera and take on that huge salary.
It was value for potential value. If the players pan out, then the Twins do well. But for 2008, the Mets got the best of it.
The rumored deal is: outfielder Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey for Santana.
Conditional on the Mets signing the extension of 6-7 years of course.
Gomez is a highly rated prospect, possibly the #1 positional prospect in the Mets organization. In AAA he hit .286 w/ 17SB.
Humber is their #1 pitching prospect.
Philip Humber Bats Right, Throws Right; Height 6’ 4", Weight 210 lb.; School Rice University; Debut September 24, 2006; Born December 21, 1982 in Nacogdoches, TX. He has had two cups of coffee but in the minors:
He went 11-9 in AAA with a 4.27 ERA. Only 139 IP. He will be 25 next year.
Deolis Guerra Bats: Right, Throws: Right Born: April 17, 1989 An A+ player.
Kevin Mulvey Bats: Right, Throws: Right Height: NA, Weight: NA Born: May 26, 1985. He made it to AAA last year. Overall 12-10 with 157 IP
So Twins fans, your GM bluffed too long and got a much lesser deal than if he had met the Yanks or Red Sox a little back in December.
Amen Brudder, Amen!
Jim
assuming, of course, we don’t trade him away midseason…
Humber is coming off Tommy John surgery, which hurt his value. He will probably be a solid ML pitcher, but not a staff ace.
Gomez has a lot of potential and is a very exciting ballplayer – one of the fastest players around. Probably needs another year in the minors, but could be starting in center by the end of this year.
Mulvey was a top draft choice for the team and probably will be in the majors to stay by 2010. I don’t know much about Guerra other than the fact he’s young.
But the Mets got to keep two of their best young players – Mike Pelfrey (who probably needs more minor league time, but will probably be on the opening day roster, and who looks pretty good) and Ferdnando Martinez, the team’s best outfield prospect after Gomez, and one who impresses scouts more due to his age (he’s 19, and playing with older prospects).
This reminds me a lot of 2005, when the rumors were that the Mets would get Pedro Martinez. No one really believed it, until it happened.
I think your GM is to be congratulated. Minaya did good! The Twins got a lot less than what was on the table in December.
I am not convinced Humber is as good as Ian Kennedy, never mind Hughes.
Jim
I’m gonna go ahead and disagree with you there. As has been widely reported, they had significantly better offers on the table in months past that they rejected, and have since evaporated. As is, the Twins didn’t get a single top tier player or prospect for the best pitcher on Earth.
Gomez projects to be a decent pickup, an average or somewhat above average player in the outfield. Humber, at 25 years old, is no longer a prospect. At this point, he pretty much is what he is: a borderline 5th starter who will probably see the bullpen sometime in the next couple of years if he wants to remain viable in the Major Leagues. The same can’t quite be said for Mulvey, entering his age 23 season, but he’s still a relatively low-ceiling player.
Then there’s Deolis Guerra. High ceiling, no doubt, but he’s 18 and it’s true what they say: TNSTAAPP (there’s no such thing as a pitching prospect). Even the best pitchers his age get injured (or flame out for some other reason) so often in the next few years that they’re basically unknown quantities. (Incidentally, the less commonly mentioned aspect of TNSTAAPP is that a 21 or 22 year old who’s destroying the competition in AAA isn’t a prospect at all, but rather a pitcher who happens not to have been promoted yet.)
Love this deal for the Mets. If they manage to pay him less than $150M over 6 years, I love it even more.
That’s my reading, too. While I only know the Mets prospects from reading about this deal, how is this better than the offers from the Yankees or Red Sox? I get the feeling the Twins asked for too much and screwed up.
I find this interesting, also. If the Yankees and Red Sox both had better offers on the table earlier, even if both offers were there primarily to keep the other team from landing Santana, how is it that BOTH teams pulled back at the same time?
If the Yankees had been willing to give up Ian Kennedy and Melky Cabrera for Santana two months ago, why would they have come down from that offer when it seems that might have beat out the Mets’ offering, regardless of who the Red Sox were giving up?
I am wondering if the Twins just wanted to ensure he did not go to either AL Beast teams. I cannot find any other positive spin for this trade for the Twins. To me, their fans should be pissed.
I wouldn’t say that. Humber was slowed by the Tommy John surgery, and was one of the top two starters in the PCL last year (it’s a very hitting-oriented league, so the raw statistics are misleading, but compared to others pitching there, he was definitely at the top).
He won’t be a Santana, of course, but should be solid at a ML starter.
That may be. I was mostly basing what I said on a quick perusal of his stats.
I’m pissed as a Blue Jay fan. For some reason the Jays always seem to beat Santana. I wanted to see more of him.
He is going to look really good in Shea against pitchers and NL Shortstops & Catchers, isn’t he? Do you think he can get under a 2.00 ERA?
As a White Sox fan (World Champions -2), I am glad that Santana is off the Twins and out of the American League.
The Tigers hit him pretty good too. I’m kinda sad to see him go as well.
One never knows how these pan out. I remember how excited I was many years ago when the Yankees signed the Reds’ ace, Don Gullett. Santana was a great pitcher for the Twins obviously but playing in New York is another matter. I’m just glad the Yankees didn’t sell the farm to get him.