Minny will need major offer to move Santana

The Yankees weren't willing to give up both Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy (above) for Johan Santana. G. Newman Lowrance/Getty Images

The winter meetings came and went with Johan Santana still a Minnesota Twin, but eventually, he will be traded. It might not be this week or even this month, though they would probably prefer to trade him before the season starts. But he will go somewhere, and it should be for something special, not just a package of decent prospects, which is what the Twins have been offered thus far by the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets, the three leading suitors for the two-time Cy Young winner.

In the meantime the Twins haven't been -- and won't be -- pressured by fake deadlines, underwhelming deals or anything else. And I can't blame them.

"They're doing the smart thing. If they're not getting what they want, they should wait," one AL executive said. "There's plenty of time. Things happen."

The Twins are holding the most valuable commodity in baseball -- a true ace -- and they should get what he's worth. If anyone should be setting a deadline, it's them. The trade won't happen until they receive the "yes" to exactly what they're looking for, which begins with at least two players who can succeed at the major-league level.

The Twins' aren't being unreasonable. They aren't even insisting that pitching lead the package. They just want what's fair.

The Red Sox, still the perceived leader to land Santana, offered two multi-player packages. The first is believed to consist of left-handed starter Jon Lester, outfielder Coco Crisp, shortstop prospect Jed Lowrie and pitching prospect Justin Masterson. The second led with Jacoby Ellsbury in place of Lester and presumably included a pitching prospect instead of Crisp. But Boston declined to include both Ellsbury with Lester in the same deal.

The Yankees were talking about a package of right-handed starter Phil Hughes, center-fielder Melky Cabrera and pitching prospect Jeff Marquez when their self-imposed deadline hit last week and talks broke down when New York wouldn't surrender prospects Ian Kennedy, Alan Horne or Austin Jackson with Hughes.

And the Mets offered different packages of prospects that included either outfielder Carlos Gomez or outfield prospect Fernando Martinez but not both, declining to include the one extra prospect the Twins requested to clinch the deal according to people familiar with those talks.

Santana's trade value is limited to perhaps only those three big-market teams because they are the only ones that truly seem comfortable with giving a pitcher a six-year extension worth between $20 and 25 million annually, which Santana will command when his current contract expires after next season. But eventually one of these teams is going to realize that acquiring an ace in the prime of his career is worth the cost in dollars and players.

Red Sox brass may be satisfied to see him go anywhere but the Yankees. The members of the Boston front office have proven to be creative thinkers and may figure out how to work out a deal. The Red Sox also know that if they get Santana, in the words of one competing executive, "the Yankees are playing for the wild card the next three years."

Some Mets people actually thought they had the best offer at the winter meetings, even though Minnesota originally didn't see a way for the Mets to contend for him. Eventually, Mets GM Omar Minaya or his bosses may conclude that the deal is worth making not only to improve their on-field product, but also to change their 2008 spring storyline from their epic collapse to the '07 season.

As for the Yankees, GM Brian Cashman has always seemed uneasy about surrendering the coveted Hughes, and used Andy Pettitte's return to persuade new boss Hank Steinbrenner not to overbid for Santana. But Steinbrenner the junior has already overruled Cashman this offseason in giving catcher Jorge Posada a fourth year, closer Mariano Rivera a third year and Alex Rodriguez a record contract after swearing he was out of the A-Rod Sweepstakes.

So if the Twins are waiting for Hank the Yank to change his mind again and get back into the Santana Sweepstakes in a big way, you can't blame them. A lot of baseball folks think he probably will.

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