Joe Christensen on StarTribune.com has some telling quotes from the perennial Cy Young candidate.
On the Twins' continuing inaction, not just at this trade deadline but it the organization's lack of aggressiveness when it's called for:
"Why waste time when you're talking about something that's always going to be like that? It's never going to be beyond this point. It doesn't make any sense for me to be here, you know?... I've been here for eight years, and I've seen a lot of those kind of things. I've seen a lot of those guys [like Castillo] come in and leave. [The decision makers] don't care. They always talk about caring about it; I don't think they care."
Continuing the subject and focusing on organizational philosophy:
"We've been close. And in all those times, we seem to be a couple players away from winning it all. So I respect all the decisions they make, but I won't say that they're right all the time."
"They protect their young players. They protect their organization, their roots, everything. But I guess I won't be a part of it. A lot of guys don't feel like they can be part of it, and they have to move on."
Finally, just some general frustration. Santana, like any athlete, wants to win:
"A lot of these guys, they don't know. They're just happy to be here. Maybe that's how they like it upstairs, but I don't like it."
"Every time I'm out there, I'm trying to win. And from seeing that we're not even trying from the top to the bottom -- I don't think it's a good sign. I don't think it's good at all."
Read cmathewson's post on how Twins fans need to stop whining, and in most instances it's true; there's a lot of merit to his points and it's something I wanted to touch on myself. But Santana's frustration, and my frustration, go beyond "The Twins Suck", because they don't. It's the yearly tradition of refusing to take a risk or two in order to put the Twins over the top and make us a legitimate contender for the game's coveted title that grows tiresome.
This year wasn't the year to make a big deal at the trade deadline; the Twins aren't good enough right now to take that risk, there are still too many holes. But it goes beyond this year's trade deadline. It's about the poor choices in free agency, the lack of any sort of an aggressive pounce by the organization on anything other than trying to strike gold by loading the farm system and an appearance of complete malaise in regards to the balls necessary to build a complete team. At some point a condending team needs to make a major move externally at the major league level, because this team, with this core, should be a contender for the next five years.
Ryan and the Twins have done an amazing job putting together the handful of players they currently have, but there's another step that needs to be taken. Not making a big trade this year was the smart move but the scars go deeper. Frustrations are still valid.