Prospects. We're talking about prospects. Not major-leaguers! Not major-leaguers! Not major-leaguers! We're talking about prospects. The Twins traded the best pitcher in the game and for what? Prospects. Not major-leaguers with proven track records in the show. They traded him for prospects. How the hell can you make your team better by trading Santana for prospects?
I just got off the phone with Allen Iverson, who's actually quite a big Twins fan, and this is what he asked me. I didn't have an answer for "The Answer". I don't know how you trade Johan Santana and only get four prospects. If you're a Twins fan like Allen and me, you've got to prey that this deal doesn't go through. Surely the Twins can get more than this for the best left-handed starting pitcher since Tom Glavine.
Bill Smith had some big shoes to fill when he took over for Terry Ryan as General Manger at the end of last season. Since then, we've seen Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva leave via free agency. Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb and Adam Everett have been brought in as free agents. Pitcher Matt Garza, shortstop Jason Bartlett and minor-league pitcher Eduardo Morlan were traded to Tampa Bay for outfielder Delmon Young, infielder Brendan Harris and minor-league outfielder Jason Pridie in a deal that may or may not pan out. Now Smith has traded our most valuable asset for prospects. I can't figure out how this is the best deal the Twins could get. They didn't even obtain outfielder Fernando Martinez, who's the Mets best prospect at that position. I'm getting the queasy feeling that I've seen this scenario play out before. Does anyone know if Bill Smith's been hanging out with Kevin McHale?
