After what seemed like years of speculation between Boston and New York over which city would land Johan Santana, the results are in: New York. But not the Yankees! Out of nowhere, the Mets sweep in and steal the back page, emptying their farm system in the process. The deal sends four of the Mets‘ top seven prospects and is contingent on Santana passing a physical and agreeing to an extension.
At least one member of the Red Sox (Jon Lester) is relieved:
“I guess I’m a little bit relieved he’s not coming to the Red Sox,” Lester said. “Obviously, it would have been nice to have him here, but at the same time, I didn’t want to go that way [Minnesota], and I didn’t need another roadblock in my way. It’s nice to see him go to a different team in a different league.”
Hard to believe the Yankees let Santana slip away because they didn’t want to give up Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes. After signings like Kevin Brown and Carl (American Idle) Pavano, a little caution is understandable, but this is Johan Santana. This non-move will be revisited often if the Yanks find themselves looking up at the Red Sox in the standings and Wang and Mussina are not the aces Hank and Brian think they are.
