Johan Santana putting the Twins on notice

[98navigator]

Santana tells ESPN Deportes the Twins should not wait to start the contract extension talks.

 

"If Minnesota wants to keep me, the earlier the better for a contract negotiation..." "The closer I get to free agency the more difficult it will be."

 

"I'm happy the way things have gone in Minnesota... but if I do opt for free agency, my agent will be the one in charge... … but after that, whatever has to happen will happen."

[Electron Blue]

Santana tells ESPN Deportes the Twins should not wait to start the contract extension talks.

 

"If Minnesota wants to keep me, the earlier the better for a contract negotiation..." "The closer I get to free agency the more difficult it will be."

 

"I'm happy the way things have gone in Minnesota... but if I do opt for free agency, my agent will be the one in charge... … but after that, whatever has to happen will happen."

 

If the Twins aren't careful, they'll be put on Johan's "Dead to Me" board.

[Jazz]

johan could get upwards of 150 mil if he hits, maybe moree

[RammyFanny]

We splurged on a hitter this year, we can always splurge on a pitcher next :wink:

 

Damn though, I don't even want to think about how much he will get.

 

Edit: Nevermind, thought he was a FA after this year for some reason. It's after the 08 season.

[Tanner_20]

not to say that they aren't going to have to back a truck or two full of money up to his house, but it sounds to me like he is trying to cash in on the market as it sits right now.

 

or maybe he is just bored and needed to run his mouth a little, which is uncharacteristic

[ToupeeOnFire]

Start warming up the welcome wagon, Jimbo.

[Balsa]

He's Yankee bound for sure. No one else is gonna be able to pay that bill.

[Garwilly]

He's Yankee bound for sure. No one else is gonna be able to pay that bill.

 

Not saying I disagree, but these guys got some pretty decent contracts from teams other than the Yankees:

 

Beltran

Soriano

Arod

Guerrero

[David]

He's Yankee bound for sure. No one else is gonna be able to pay that bill.

 

Not saying I disagree, but these guys got some pretty decent contracts from teams other than the Yankees:

 

Beltran

Soriano

Arod

Guerrero

 

Yea, I'm not sure why the myth that the Yankees sign all the biggest free agents continues to persist.

[Jehrico]

"I'm happy the way things have gone in Minnesota... but if I do opt for free agency, my agent will be the one in charge... … but after that, whatever has to happen will happen."

 

I guess we know what motivates Santana. I just lost a lot of respect for him. That quote there represents alot of things that are wrong with professional sports today.

[E.J.]

He's Yankee bound for sure. No one else is gonna be able to pay that bill.

 

Not saying I disagree, but these guys got some pretty decent contracts from teams other than the Yankees:

 

Beltran

Soriano

Arod

Guerrero

 

To be fair, they didn't really show much interest in Beltran or Soriano.

[Electron Blue]

He's Yankee bound for sure. No one else is gonna be able to pay that bill.

 

Not saying I disagree, but these guys got some pretty decent contracts from teams other than the Yankees:

 

Beltran

Soriano

Arod

Guerrero

 

To be fair, they didn't really show much interest in Beltran or Soriano.

 

To be fair, that's just as a good a reason for why the Yankee/FA myth shouldn't persist.

[Balsa]

 

To be fair, they didn't really show much interest in Beltran or Soriano.

 

To be fair, that's just as a good a reason for why the Yankee/FA myth shouldn't persist.

No, the Yankees have a great lineup, but their pitching staff has seen some awful times. You can bet they'll go all out for Santana, who's young and damn near always a Cy Young contender.

[goonys evil twin]

To be fair, that's just as a good a reason for why the Yankee/FA myth shouldn't persist.

 

I agree it shouldn't persist. But it's probably true that they end up getting the guys they really want, more often than any other team. I think the past few offseasons they have pretty much added one big money player per year. They got Clemens before 99, Mussina before 2001, Giambi for 2002. Matsui was the big addition before 2003, although he didn't really qualify as huge. 2004 was Sheffield, ARod and Vasquez. 2005 was Randy Johnson and Pavano. That's as close as they got to getting "every FA they wanted", but some of those guys were trades. 2006 was back to just being Damon, and all they got this year was Pettite on a 1-year deal.

[Guest]

To be fair, that's just as a good a reason for why the Yankee/FA myth shouldn't persist.

 

I agree it shouldn't persist. But it's probably true that they end up getting the guys they really want, more often than any other team. I think the past few offseasons they have pretty much added one big money player per year. They got Clemens before 99, Mussina before 2001, Giambi for 2002. Matsui was the big addition before 2003, although he didn't really qualify as huge. 2004 was Sheffield, ARod and Vasquez. 2005 was Randy Johnson and Pavano. That's as close as they got to getting "every FA they wanted", but some of those guys were trades. 2006 was back to just being Damon, and all they got this year was Pettite on a 1-year deal.

 

But isn't there a rule that limits teams to how many "Type A/B" Free agents one team could acquire over a set number of yrs? I believe that is a reason why the Yanks were "quiet" on the FA market this yr? I think the limit to acquire "Type A/B Free Agents" is something like 5. So, I suspect the Yankees are going to be quiet on the FA market after 07, so that they COULD go after Johan Santana.

 

I'm hoping that if Johan doesn't reup with the Twins, the Twins move him to a team like LA Angels, or Dodgers, who both have the prospects/deep pockets to keep Johan, and make the Yanks dissapointed.

[goonys evil twin]

But isn't there a rule that limits teams to how many "Type A/B" Free agents one team could acquire over a set number of yrs? I believe that is a reason why the Yanks were "quiet" on the FA market this yr? I think the limit to acquire "Type A/B Free Agents" is something like 5. So, I suspect the Yankees are going to be quiet on the FA market after 07, so that they COULD go after Johan Santana.

 

I'm hoping that if Johan doesn't reup with the Twins, the Twins move him to a team like LA Angels, or Dodgers, who both have the prospects/deep pockets to keep Johan, and make the Yanks dissapointed.

 

I believe there's a rule about signing certain free agents in any one year, but I'm not sure about how it carries over from year to year.

[Coach C]

What worries me is when he does hit the FA Market, and gets possibly more money than Zito got, then I'm worried about what Zambrano might ask for....

[goonys evil twin]

What worries me is when he does hit the FA Market, and gets possibly more money than Zito got, then I'm worried about what Zambrano might ask for....

 

Zambrano will have already signed before he does. And Zambrano won't have much of a case if he tries to compare himself to Santana.

[TruffleShuffle]

"I'm happy the way things have gone in Minnesota... but if I do opt for free agency, my agent will be the one in charge... … but after that, whatever has to happen will happen."

 

I guess we know what motivates Santana. I just lost a lot of respect for him. That quote there represents alot of things that are wrong with professional sports today.

 

I guess we know that what motivates Santana is the same thing that motivates about 95% of pro athletes.

[Backtobanks]

We splurged on a hitter this year, we can always splurge on a pitcher next :wink:

 

Damn though, I don't even want to think about how much he will get.

 

Edit: Nevermind, thought he was a FA after this year for some reason. It's after the 08 season.

 

By the end of 2008 many teams might have different financial situations. Of course, the Yankees might be out from under ARod's contract. I could see the Mets and the Angels really upping the ante too.

[Electron Blue]

 

To be fair, they didn't really show much interest in Beltran or Soriano.

 

To be fair, that's just as a good a reason for why the Yankee/FA myth shouldn't persist.

No, the Yankees have a great lineup, but their pitching staff has seen some awful times. You can bet they'll go all out for Santana, who's young and damn near always a Cy Young contender.

 

The myth my post was referring to was the one about the Yankees getting every top FA available. I assumed Garwilly was talking about this - obviously a myth that is untrue. For the sake of this issue, I think you're right, their needs absolutely do fit into the conversation. If they seriously want someone that is available they are deservedly known for getting these players. Predictions are usually silly, but the Yanks would be front-runners if he hit the market, IMO.

[Jon]

"I'm happy the way things have gone in Minnesota... but if I do opt for free agency, my agent will be the one in charge... … but after that, whatever has to happen will happen."

 

I guess we know what motivates Santana. I just lost a lot of respect for him. That quote there represents alot of things that are wrong with professional sports today.

 

I guess we know that what motivates Santana is the same thing that motivates about 95% of pro athletes.

All he's saying is that if he decides not to re-sign with the Twins before he hits the free agent market, the Twins will have a lot of competition. I don't really see what's wrong with it. Of course his agent is going to be in charge and have a field day if that happens. Minnesota is well aware of that.

[The Q]

We splurged on a hitter this year, we can always splurge on a pitcher next :wink:

 

Damn though, I don't even want to think about how much he will get.

 

Edit: Nevermind, thought he was a FA after this year for some reason. It's after the 08 season.

 

By the end of 2008 many teams might have different financial situations. Of course, the Yankees might be out from under ARod's contract. I could see the Mets and the Angels really upping the ante too.

 

Don't forget the Sox will be out from under the heavy contracts (over the next 2 years) of:

 

Lowell (this year)

Schilling (this yaer, maybe next)

Wakefield (almost 5 mil..could retire at any time)

Manny (after 08)

Varitek (after 08)

 

They're gonna have soem serious money to throw around after the 2008 season.

[Jazz]

IMO, once the twins are out of it (which they should be just because of the immense competition of the AL Central, and the AL in general), i think that if they aren't going to resign santana, they might just put him on the block and ask for pretty much the biggest prospect haul that it out there. The angels could give them a pretty sweet deal.

[TB_11]

IMO, once the twins are out of it (which they should be just because of the immense competition of the AL Central, and the AL in general), i think that if they aren't going to resign santana, they might just put him on the block and ask for pretty much the biggest prospect haul that it out there. The angels could give them a pretty sweet deal.

 

If Santana agrees to a trade. One of the stipulations in his current contract is that a top 3 finish in the Cy Young voting for 2006 or 2007 gives him full NTC privileges for 2007-08.

 

If the Twins could convince Santana to agree to a trade, it lessens the probability that he ends up on the Yankees that year. Like Jazz said, they should expect to get a prospect haul, and the Cashman has reprioritized the Yankees farm system. He wouldn't deplete his farm system for one starting pitcher.