[Evil Vito]

Originally Posted by Dragon I dunno man. I think that Hughes, Melky, Marquez offer is better than or at least on par with that Mets offer without Martinez. Hughes is the best prospect in any rumors so far. Maybe I'm wrong but I've heard that Humber and Mulvey are projected to be 4-5 starters and middle of the rotation at best. And Guerra has a ton of upside but is a long ways away. I don't know a ton about those 3 guys but thats what I've heard. Ah, just saw you might be talking about the straight up swap of Hughes and Santana, my bad. I am actually really intent on just going forward this season with what the Yankees have. It might be a little risky having 3 rookies pretty much in the rotation but I would trust three rookies more than Pavano, Karstens, Igawa, etc...all the crap we used at the beginning of the season last year. The Yankees were ridiculous the second half of the season last year and we have the same team coming back, except full years of Hughes, Joba and Kennedy. Really looking forward to this season just starting. And if Santana reaches free agency I will be pretty damn ecstatic. The fact that the Yankees have 80 million coming off the books (Pettitte and Abreu are the only ones who'd possibly come back) after this upcoming season makes me even more excited about Santana possibly reaching free agency. I think theres a slim chance of that happening but one can hope. The ideal scenario would be the Twins keeping him and actually being in the race all of the season and then to have an epic Mets-like collapse at the end of the season. LOL, had to throw that in there.

Oddly enough, I seem to be one of the few people left that would gladly make that 5-for-1 trade to get Santana. Sure I'd love to keep one of Gomez or Martinez...but if need be, I'd make the trade. Martinez is 19 and Guerra is 18...there is no way to know if they'll pan out whereas Santana is a sure thing. Buster Olney is spewing some crap about how Santana must be injured if the Twins trade him to the Mets for a "medicore package" but fuck him.

A lot of Mets fans are going on about how the Mets might win in 2008 if they trade for Johan, but then they'd suck in 2009 and beyond. I just don't get that thinking. If the 5-for-1 trade goes down, you'll have Santana and Maine as locks for the 2009 rotation, and Perez will probably be signed for at least $10M...which is a good deal for a Boras client and he'll stll cost less than Pedro will in '08. Pelfrey will be the #4 starter (sounds like he's the odd man out in the trade), and he may very well be a soild pitcher by then. Then you just use a minor leaguer or sign a vet for that last spot.

In the lineup...you'll still have Wright, Reyes, Beltran. Schneider and Church will also still be under contract...and honestly I think Church might be solid in '08. A void will need to be filled at 1B and LF...but Delgado and Alou coming off the books SHOULD free up money...I bet they'd even have enough to jump into the Texeira derby though I'm sure a team like the Yankees will blow him out of the water with a huge offer he can't refuse.

I dunno...maybe I'm just still bitter from the collapse but I want the Mets to make this trade and win in 2008...it seems to be better than standing pat for three years and hoping the kids meet their expectations. If the trade doesn't go through, all the kids are gonna be heavily scrutinized when they come up as well.

Plus other things to consider: Getting like $32 million a year for Citi Field naming rights, having 3 of the top 33 or so draft picks this year, Omar's tendency to find young Latin players who wind up being big prospects (Gomez, Martinez, etc.)...there's no reason to think they can't contend in 2009 and beyond as well as rebuild the farm if they make that trade to bring Santana in now.