JOHAN SANTANA ON THE MARKET

by Jack Cobra, Cobra Brigade

With all apologies to Sooze.....her Twins are cheap. They have (probably) the top left handed pitcher in all of baseball and it looks like the Twins aren't going to re-sign him. Instead, they are going to sell him to the highest bidder (kind of)....awesome.

When a great pitcher like Santana becomes available, everyone comes knocking at the door as if they were adolescent boys trying to date the hot girl in the neighborhood. The Yankees, Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox have all been rumored to have A) interest in Santana and B) the assets to get the deal done. These are the 'usual suspects' in baseball circles and these teams will be bidding against each other to try to pry Santana from the steely cold hands of Carl Pohlad....but as in life, there is a twist to this tale.

Santana has a full no trade clause in his contract which means that....he's going to be the one to determine where he ends up. If I'm him, I'm looking at one team. The Dodgers. Santana is nearly 30 years old and he can move to the 'easier' National League to finish out the last 6-7 years of his career. On top of that, by going to the Dodgers he becomes the next Sandy Koufax and that will bring about all kinds of marketing opportunities for him (extra cash). The Dodgers have the farm system to get the job done and the financial assets to continue to put a good team on the field around Santana. They signed Joe Torre this off-season and Santana would be a great way to top off their team.

If Santana stays in the American League he's going to be bashing heads with the Yankees/Red Sox/Angels for the rest of his career and while that's entertaining to you and me....I wouldn't want to do it as a pitcher. He'll face loads of scrutiny in both Boston and New York and for a guy who came up through the Houston and Minnesota systems, I can't imagine that's something he's looking forward to. In the end, because of the full no trade clause, it will come down to what Santana wants.