Johan Santana. Finally Launched.
Oh, and the Twins really screwed up. Big time.
Santana, the deal they couldn't mess up, finally moved, to the Mets for Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, Deolis Guerra and Carlos Gomez. The finally details are being put in place before the deal will be official. Not near enough of a haul. In fact, a worse haul than if they had consumated their teasing with the Red Sox and Yankees back at the winter meetings. They overplayed their hand, no matter how they try and spin it in the next few days.
Mike Lupica, in the Daily News, per usual, misses the story and claims that Mets GM Omar Minaya finally bowled over the Twins. Um, no, he didn't. It was the same deal that the Mets have reportedly had on the table to the Twins for weeks. And it doesn't include the one prize from the Mets system that Minnesota had been holding out for.
In Minnesota, the columns rationalizing a massive screw-up have begun. Good luck talking yourselves into that argument.
Let's be clear. Both the deals originally offered by the Yankees and Red Sox were superior to what the Twins ultimately took. By holding out for "one more player", it forced them to the Mets' offer seven weeks later. And even then, they couldn't get that "one more player" and ended up with a package that is sub-par for their needs.
Horrible job, all the way around in Minnesota. As for the Mets? You can't have lucked into a better situation.
