Yankees Trade For Santana?

I know that this blog is supposed to be primarily about our daughter Marina, but I also reserve the right to use this blog as a sounding board for a few other things. Also I received permission from Kristi to post an entry about my beloved Yankees and a possible trade that may occur and I feel like my sweet daughter Marina would appreciate what I'm about to say considering she is a die-hard Yankee fan (I'm pretty sure her first words will be Jeter or A-Rod).

So the Yankees are in trade talks with the Twins for the service of a lefty by the name of Johan Santana. Well Santana is considered by many to be the best pitcher in the major leagues and possiby the best left-hander since Sandy Koufax. Santana is also a native of Venezuela, so considering those two facts and the fact that we (The Yankees) desperately need some great pitching to do anything in the postseason, I'm a huge fan of Santana and I'm all for the trade. I do have an opinion though considering the players that are being offered and I now offer my two cents on who should be dealt and why (just in case Hank Steinbrenner or Brian Cashman are reading).

The five players that are in the discussions are Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano. Obviously the Yankees aren't going to offer all five of these players for Santana but any combination of 2 or three of them could possibly be dealt.


Joba Chamberlain - I love this kid and I love the youthful energy and looseness that he brings to the clubhouse. Last season he was practically flawless when he pitched (I'm not counting the "bug" game in Cleveland, that was a joke). In my mind Joba is so good and has such a high ceiling that he should be off the table and not included. My understanding is that the Yankee brass feel the same and have removed him from the trade discussion. Smart move.

Ian Kennedy - We didn't get a chance to see too much of Ian last year but what we did see was a lot of potential, but out of the three pitching prospects that we have, he is probably the third best. So my thinking is this; do we keep him and wait for him to be great in 3-4 years or do we want a pitcher that can be great now and help us with the incredible offensive weapons that we already have? I'm all for winning now so go ahead and package Ian in the trade and let's get to winning now.

Phil Hughes - This kid is another great prospect that I really love and he's throws so hard that he's getting comparisons to Roger Clemens. We saw moments of that potential last year but he was also off-and-on injured. So I see how he could be the next Rocket but I also see a little bit of Kerry Wood in him and that scares me. The argument also goes back to what I mentioned with Ian, do we want to wait the 3 years for greatness or do we want greatness now? If we need to send two pitchers away then I'm ok with us sending Hughes.


Robinson Cano - Hall of Famer and 8-time batting champ Tony Gwynn said that Robbie Cano had one of the sweetest swings for a left-hander and the potential to win a lot of batting titles. How can you trade someone with that kind of recommendation from one of the all-time greats? You can't. He's off the board, don't trade him, don't even discuss the possiblity of it, that would be crazy. He's one of our main offensive weapons and he's great in the clubhouse, we're lucky we have him so lets keep him.


Melky Cabrera - This one hurts me but it may be the main component to get this deal done. The Twins need a centerfielder and Melky has proven to be very competent at that position. Again, I love this guy, he swings a good bat and he manages the outfield well but truth be told, he's probably not going to be great. He's not going to get his plaque in the memorial behind leftfield, he'll always be good in certain moments but he's someone we can replace...it really hurt me to say that because you gotta love the energy he brings into the clubhouse...but gosh dangit we need pitching and if we have to give him up then so be it.

So there it is, Ian Kennedy, Melky Cabrera and Phil Hughes (if necessary) for Johan Santana. This could work and I like the idea of Santana in the real pinstripes. Now if this deal doesn't work I'll still be excited to retain all of this young talent but if the Red Sox get Santana...heaven help me I'll be so mad and I'll be praying that Santana's elbow blows out and he never pitches again like Carl Pavano.