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Yankees, Mets could go hard after Santana

BY KAT O'BRIEN | kat.obrien@newsday.com

November 24, 2007

Johan Santana signed on as a free agent with Houston in 1995. (AP Photo)

The Johan Santana sweepstakes are about to start burning up the Hot Stove League, and the Yankees and Mets are expected to go all-out in attempting to acquire the ace lefthander.

The Twins recently offered Santana a four-year, $80-million contract extension that would have kept him in Minnesota through the 2012 season, a person familiar with discussions said Friday. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune first reported that talks had broken down. When Santana turned down the offer, the Twins indicated they would begin looking at trading the two-time Cy Young Award winner, although Santana has a full no-trade clause.

Someone close to Santana said he would be willing to waive the clause to go to a winning club. The friend said Santana would be open to playing for either the Yankees or Mets. Changing leagues would not be a problem, the friend said.

One source said the Yankees plan to make a "good, strong offer" and that they believe they have more to offer the Twins in a trade than anybody else does.

Every team would love to have Santana, who is considered by many the best pitcher in baseball. But few teams have both the package of young talent needed to acquire him and the money to sign him long-term. The Yankees and Mets are among the clubs that could manage both sides of the equation, and both plan to push hard to get Santana -- along with perhaps the Red Sox, Dodgers and Angels.

Santana, 28, is 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA. In his eight-year career, he has struck out 1,381 in 1,3082/3 innings and allowed only 1,068 hits.

This season was his first since 2001 in which his ERA was above 3.10; he was 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA. Even in this "down" season, he had the seventh-lowest ERA in the AL, ranked second in strikeouts (235) and was sixth in innings pitched (219.0).

It is not a lock that Santana, who is represented by agent Peter Greenberg, will be dealt this offseason. Although there are signs that the Twins viewed their four-year, $80-million offer as being at the upper boundaries of what they can afford, they could hold on to him until midseason if they don't like the trade offers they receive.

Twins general manager Bill Smith already has had preliminary conversations about Santana with several teams, including the Yankees. Talks are expected to escalate between now and the winter meetings, to be held Dec. 3-6 in Nashville.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya could not be reached Friday, but he has said upgrading his rotation is his top priority. The Mets helped themselves this week by picking up catcher Johnny Estrada without using prime trade chips, giving up only reliever Guillermo Mota. Now, if they want to make a run at Santana or another elite starter, they have outfielders Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez and Carlos Gomez and pitchers Mike Pelfrey and Aaron Heilman to offer.

The Yankees have vastly improved their farm system in the past couple of years. The crown jewels, which they are loath to give up but might consider trading to get a top player such as Santana, are pitchers Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.

The Twins are believed to have more interest in Chamberlain and Hughes than Kennedy, but they also like second baseman Robinson Cano and centerfielder Melky Cabrera. The Yankees have other well-thought-of prospects such as pitcher Alan Horne and outfielder Jose Tabata. Longtime Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter signed with the Angels this week, so the Twins are in need of a centerfielder.

Improving their starting pitching is a top priority for the Yankees and Mets. The Mets had questions about their rotation even before losing free agent Tom Glavine to the Braves. The Yankees do not know if Andy Pettitte will return or retire and do not expect Roger Clemens back. But a source said Pettitte's situation will not affect their pursuit of Santana -- they have interest in him either way.