Everything’s coming their way
On the bright side, at least the negotiating window will only be 72 hours in lieu of the 30-day stranglehold for Dice-K we endured one year ago.
It appears that the Red Sox may be close to landing the most wanted pitcher on the market for the second straight offseason, trading medical jive with the Twins as it relates to Johan Santana and company, which would seem to hint the structure of a deal could be in place.
Still, the New York Times tells us this morning there’s a flicker of hope where the Yankees are concerned, with the Twins reportedly removing Ian Kennedy from the must-have list.
Boston or New York will indeed insist on a 72-hour window to negotiate on a contract extension with Santana, which should only cost about the equivalent of putting in a purchase bid on St. Peter’s Square.
Last year at this time, Red Sox fans waited with bated breath over the Daisuke Matsuzaka negotiations, which culminated in a circus chain of events just prior to the deadline.
This December, it is Santana, often regarded as the best pitcher in baseball. And one who’s itching for a $25 million annual contract, the reason why we’re even in this bidding war in the first place.
Gee, who can afford that? (Two guesses).
If the rumors are true, the Red Sox are due to land the lefty starter for a package that will include (in one scenario) Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, Jon Lester, and Justin Masterson – and no Jacoby Ellsbury. That makes the Red Sox the prohibitive favorite for next year, and possibly beyond depending on how Santana holds up.
An unnamed Red Sox official told Yahoo’s Tim Brown that he was “cautiously optimistic” that a deal would take place. Curt Schilling is now your No. 4 starter. Josh Beckett, who came just shy of the Cy Young Award, is your No. 2.
Remember when GM Theo Epstein scoffed at the idea of an uberteam? Well, that is now what you’d officially have in Boston. Beckett-Santana-Matsuzaka-Schilling-Clay Buchholz would be far and away the best pitching in the major leagues, a distinction that it pretty much already had going for it anyway.
Or put another way: “If the Red Sox get Santana,” one NL executive told ESPN’s Jason Stark, “they might be the best team in the history of the frigging universe.”
And all for something just short of $200 million.
Maybe it’s the fact that the Red Sox are coming off another World Series title that makes local reaction over the Santana addition a little more subdued. Perhaps it was the possible inclusion of fan favorite Ellsbury that had fans in a tizzy over it all. It could be watching the inspirational Lester story move to Minnesota instead of Boston, where fans reveled in the heart and courage of a young man battling a life-threatening disease.
For a lot of Red Sox fans, the deal feels empty. And maybe that’s because of the particulars involved and the money invested that it will need to take.
This could be just the latest development in the increasingly maddening, changing philosophies of Epstein, who touts the farm system’s development one day in the same breath as economic responsibility, only to ship it off the next day for a player who, albeit the best in the game, is likely to get a contract that will dwarf any other given to a pitcher.
You think after watching this, as well as the Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew deals, that David Ortiz is psyched to have signed at a hometown discount? What if Beckett had just waited for the money tossed at the likes of Santana? After the year he had, it would be he — not Santana — who would be paid the highest salary for a pitcher. Can they afford a total of $50 million in 2011 for two players when Beckett wants as much as his teammate?
It is unlike Epstein to surrender so much for a guy who is coming off his worst season (still, a 15-game winner) and will still cost a good $150 million to sign. Which is to say, we really no longer know what to expect from the guy anymore. A Santana deal and contract is a risk that the Red Sox have tried to sway themselves from in the past because of all the injury and breakdown issues involved with starting pitchers.
But perhaps there are also exceptions, and when a pitcher’s ERA is annually more than a run lower than the league average, those guys don’t come around so often. Even if it costs four guys who might one day be good in the majors, you are getting in return one who is great. What Pedro Martinez was to Boston in 1998, Santana could be for the team in 2008. Except that he’s not the centerpiece, but a piece only.
He’s not the star. He’s a complement to Beckett, Matsuzaka, Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, etc. Any team on which Johan Santana doesn’t have to be considered the numero uno guy is indeed an uberteam.
Unless this is all one big ruse to run up the price on the Yankees (which would mean Epstein is going to have to get himself in on the Dan Haren and Erik Bedard sweepstakes as well, like a little gnat coming after Hank Steinbrenner), the Red Sox may be close to adding the best pitcher in the game. If all goes well, next up will be the negotiations.
And we all know what fun that can be.
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