Latest on Johan

Writing something about Johan Santana has become a weekly staple for me, whether I like it or not. There may not even be a need for me to do so anymore, considering that Hank Steinbrenner took the liberty of putting a deadline on the Twins to accept their offer and since they did not meet that deadline, then supposedly they are out of the running for Santana. However, Hank has little credibility with these matters after declaring a similar assertion towards Alex Rodriguez. Rumors are stilly flying that the Yankees are indeed not finished with Santana, but a rumor could easily come out any minute to contradict that. It was only a few short days ago that the Red Sox appeared to be in the verge of completing a Santana trade, but apparently that has fallen through as well. The Twins must have come to their senses, since they had little reason to accept what the Red Sox were offering. A deal of Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, and Justin Masterson should not have been enough to get it done. Even the most biased Red Sox fan should be able to admit that the Yankees package of Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and one or two minor leaguers was superior to the Red Sox’s package. Despite the fact that the Yankees featured the superior offer, the Twins were still unwilling to complete the trade in a reasonable fashion. However, this can be seen just as much as the Yankees fault, since supposedly they turned a trade of Hughes, Melky, Mitch Hillogross, and Jeffrey Marquez. It seemed as if the Twins insistence on gaining Hughes and Kennedy was what kept the trade from happening, but apparently that was not the case. The Yankees have become quite frugal with their young players, which is really not an awful thing unless they plan on making any trades. There was a rumor of a three team trade with the Mets, Twins, and A’s regarding Santana, Jose Reyes, and Dan Haren, but it was already proved to be just that, a rumor. The Mariners and Angels are both rumored to still be the fringe of the talks, but neither seems like a likely destination for Santana. I’ll probably get to enjoy writing about this several more teams, as I don’t expect anything to be done for at least a couple of weeks.