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Say No To Johan

It appears that momentum is growing in favor of a Mets trade of all of their remaining prospects for Twins ace Johan Santana.

Santana is among the best pitchers in baseball, possibly the best. But I do not think the Mets can trade their top four or five prospects for him.

There are two reasons for my negative stance.

The first is that Fred Wilpon is not George Steinbrenner. He operates on a strict budget.

Once the Mets give Santana more than $20 million per season, how will the Mets afford to keep or replace Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez or Oliver Perez, all three of whom are free agents next offseason? What will happen if injuries (can anyone say Luis Castillo, Moises Alou, Pedro, Billy Wagner, or El Duque) require the Mets to add a player (or multiple players) - and payroll - late next season? Where will the money and the prospects come from?

All of that said, the Mets have won two World Series in their 46 seasons. If trading all of their prospects for Santana would deliver a World Series victory in 2008 - before it becomes necessary to replace Pedro, Perez and El Duque - I would be all for it.

Which leads to my second reason for opposing a Santana trade. With Santana as their ace, the Mets would seem to be a real contender in '08. But I still would not like their chances. Not with Willie Randolph managing them. I am afraid that the man who botched the 2006 NLCS and the 2007 NL East race would do enough stupid things during the pressure-packed postseason to once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Therefore, I must oppose a trade for Johan Santana, who otherwise would be a perfect fit for the Mets.
posted on 1/10/2008