...if you're sick of hearing Johan Santana trade rumors, raise your hand. But only if you applied deodorant this morning.
New York, Boston, Los Angeles, New York...again. Baseball's biggest spenders are tripping over themselves, playing the role of the ghostly white undead just waiting for fresh flesh to wander out after dark. Tell me the creep is an albino all you want, but the drool, fangs and wringing hands tell me differently. Johan Santana is one of baseball's best pitchers over the last four and a half years, and the vampires smell blood.
There are good reasons the Twins should consider trading Johan Santana, and there are bad reasons. For the good reasons to trade Santana, there's informative analysis and then there's bad analysis. It's the bad analysis, primarily thanks to rumor mongering by the national media, that's numbing. Instead of breaking down the reasons Minnesota could trade Santana, you winding up hearing seven minutes of driveling opinions about why the "analysts" believe the Twins will or will not swing a deal.
Dear ESPN: I don't care what the opinions of your analysts are. I like forming my own opinion, even if in the end it's the popular one. Nobody needs a reason why the Twins should try and keep the best pitcher in baseball in Minnesota. If Peter Gammons gives me a direct quote from a general manager in Philadelphia, or if you want to break down the future financial and talent stability that a trade could bring, then I'm listening. I just was under the impression that an entity in your position could use its privilege to make the audience privy to actual information, instead of inundating us with 20-second monologues on how things would be done if John Kruk were in charge.
Here's what the Twins have to decide in regards to trading Santana: who can they get in return? You've got to be sure that when you let this guy go, you're getting something substantial in return. Now if the Yankees offer Tabata and Chamberlain in a deal, or if the Dodgers offer Kemp and Kershaw, then if I'm Bill Smith then I'm listening. Minnesota isn't a big spender, and Johan will want to go where he can make the big bucks. I'm John Kruk, gimme a beer.
You should hear my Kruk impression. It's gold. Seriously.
What kills me is THAT is the kind of "analysis" that ESPN offers up on a far too regular basis. It's an opinion that says nothing that isn't already obvious, it speculates as opposed to informing, and then at the end Kruk wants you to beer him. Did you bring meat to this BBQ John, because if not keep those bear paws out of my cooler.
This week I'll be running through where I start the bidding for Santana's services. I'll look forward to your two cents as well. At this point I'm actually leaning toward trading Johan, as the best option going forward. Not because I don't like him, or because I think we'll be better this year without him, but for a number of reasons. My prices will be steep, but hopefully we can start a dialogue that leaves you with an actual informed opinion of your own instead of gagging on FoxSports rumors.