The New York Mets have extracted stolen acquired Santana from the Minnesota Twins for a glass of water some magic beans four prospects.

I jest, of course, to make a point. The prospects headed to Minnesota — outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra — aren’t bad, but they also aren’t Philip Hughes. The question I have for the Twins is why they would blink now and give away the best pitcher in baseball for less than full value.

The market dictates a lot of things, I get that, but Santana isn’t a replaceable player. Like, if you don’t get Santana, there isn’t a real Plan B. The Twins should have been able to use this to their advantage, but they didn’t.

Don’t like the market now? Hey, here’s a thought: Wait a few months and see how some of those teams feel when they’re in the thick of a pennant race. Or crazier still, hang onto Santana if you find yourself in the hunt come July.

But enough of my sniping. The Twins got hosed and everyone knows it, including the Twins (regardless of what spin they might try to give). Let’s take a look at what they got in return for Santana:

Carlos Gomez

The Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2007 listed Gomez as the Mets’ #3 prospect. He’s a fast outfielder with a strong arm and plate discipline issues. The good news is that Gomez is 22 years old. The bad news is that, although he might become an impact player, he’s not there yet. Gomez has promise, but not nearly enough to make him the centerpiece of a package for the world’s best pitcher.

Philip Humber

BAPH ‘07 had Humber ranked #4 among Mets prospects. Humber is a former first-round pick who has battled injuries. He’s 25 and probably ready for a shot at a big-league rotation, but his ceiling isn’t super high.

Kevin Mulvey

Mulvey is a strike thrower who keeps the ball in the park. BA had him ranked #6 coming into 2007. His low strikeout numbers (6.53 K/9 at Double-A Binghamton last year) suggest a back-end type of guy.

Deolis Guerra

BAPH ‘07 listed Guerra as the Mets’ #5 prospect. The good news is that he held his own in the Florida State League at age 18. The bad news is that so did Jose Pett many moons ago. Am I suggesting that Guerra is the new Pett? No. My point is that a lot can go wrong between there and here.

Jim Callis at BA has more info on the prospects headed to Minnesota, but ultimately reaches the same, inevitable conclusion: assuming the trade goes through, the Twins hurt themselves in the short term without receiving enough long-term value to offset the loss of Santana.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Like Linebrink, Dotel was a dominant reliever several years ago. Now he’s mostly just hurt. Here’s what Dotel has done recently:

You’ll notice in the caption that this is Dotel’s record for the past 3 years. Last season he worked 30 2/3 innings, which was the most he’d pitched since 2004. Dotel is 34 years old. Yep, better lock him up to a 2-year deal.

Meanwhile, the White Sox designated an intriguing arm for assignment in the process, right-hander David Aardsma. The latter hasn’t enjoyed much success at the big-league level but has good stuff, is young, and probably won’t cost a whole lot. Someone should give Aardsma a shot. For grins, here’s what he’s done over the past 3 years:

Huh, that looks kind of familiar…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

According to ESPN, Sammy Sosa won’t be returning to the Texas Rangers in 2008 because he “wants to play — ideally in a situation where he could get 400 to 500 plate appearances.”

Sosa is 39 years old, can’t play the field, and can’t hit right-handed pitching (.222/.267/.410 in ‘07), and he wants a full-time job. I’m sorry, how does that work again?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Dan at Baseball Think Factory sums it up pretty nicely. Two open questions:

1. How is Gonzalez only 38 years old?
2. What is Danny Tartabull doing these days?

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Jennings went 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA for the Astros in 2007. He underwent elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready by Opening Day.

Jennings owns a career record of 60-65 with a 4.91 ERA; he spent much of his early career pitching at Coors Field, so his ERA+ is 99, or roughly average. Jennings’ list of similar pitchers through age 29 — Jeff Suppan, Matt Clement, Kyle Lohse, etc. — isn’t exciting, but if he can stay healthy, this could work out well for the Rangers. At his best, Jennings eats innings, and it’s not like his new home park will faze him.

The one drawback is that now we won’t get to watch Jennings bat. Jennings was an excellent hitter in college and owns a career .207/.252/.268 line in the big leagues.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

The St. Louis Cardinals have traded third baseman Scott Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays for third baseman Troy Glaus. Fun trade. Rolen is 33 and has battled shoulder problems, while Glaus is 31 and has battled foot problems.

Career lines:

Rolen: 6380 PA, .283/.372/.507, 126 OPS+
Glaus: 5203 PA, .254/.358/.500, 121 OPS+

2007 lines:

Rolen: 441 PA, .265/.331/.398, 89 OPS+
Glaus: 456 PA, .262/.366/.473, 120 OPS+

Yikes, Rolen’s power has disappeared.

Peak lines:

Rolen: 593 PA, .314/.409/.598, 157 OPS+ (2004, age 29)
Glaus: 678 PA, .284/.404/604, 150 OPS+ (2000, age 23)

Both of these guys at one point in their careers appeared to be headed along a Hall of Fame career path. Well, maybe not Glaus, but still, a guy who puts up those numbers at age 23 has to be considered dangerous. Unfortunately, he’s missed huge chunks of three different seasons since then and settled into the “useful when healthy” category of player.

Rolen? I have a soft spot because I drafted him in a Scoresheet league when he was at Double-A Reading (come to think of it, I drafted Glaus in another league before the Angels even signed him). Anyway, he hit .290/.391/.532 at age 23, which also maybe gave a little false hope of things to come.

Here’s what I don’t get. When the Phillies moved Rolen in 2002, I thought part of the problem that he couldn’t play on artificial turf. Either technology has improved since then, or that was really code for “Get me the heck away from Larry Bowa.”

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Kotsay is 32 years old and has battled numerous injuries over the years, primarily back problems. Kotsay, of course, says he feels great, but it’s easy to feel great in January, when you’re not playing actual games.

Personally I have a soft spot for Kotsay, who did a nice job patrolling center field in San Diego from 2001 to 2003. Still, I wonder if he’s headed down the Darrin Erstad career path and if the Braves gave up too much to get him.

Devine ranked #9 among Braves prospects in the 2007 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, while Richmond checked in at #24. Seems like a steep price for a stopgap solution.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Yorvitize – v. To publicly announce a contract signing as done and then go back on the announcement.

Here it is in a sentence:

Man, I’ll bet Phillies fans are bummed that their deal with J.C. Romero didn’t get Yorvitized.

Anyway.

The Brewers have inked Mike Cameron to a 1-year, $7 million deal that was finalized Monday. The 35-year-old center fielder, who spent the past two seasons with the San Diego Padres, will miss the first 25 games of 2008 while serving a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

Brewers GM Doug Melvin praised Cameron for his on-field skills and clubhouse leadership abilities. Cameron and his agent, Mike Nicotera, meanwhile, must be wondering what happened to the long-term deal they were seeking earlier.

It’s called misreading the market. Ask Jody Reed about that sometime…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Lessee, the Bucs went out and signed Chris Gomez. That should be enough to keep them right around the 95-loss mark, don’t you think? Honestly, just start wearing mom jeans already.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Even after signing Jose Castillo on Christmas Eve, the Marlins may not be done giving themselves third base options.

Only in Miami, where the Marlins’ owner has trained his team’s “fans” to expect nothing and like it, could this even be in doubt. Castillo hit .244/.270/.335 for the Pirates in 2007. Huh, so he might not be the answer at third?

Other players being considered include Jorge Cantu and Dallas McPherson. Cantu hit .252/.331/.357 last season for the Devil Rays and the Reds. McPherson didn’t play in 2007 due to injury, but hit .261/.298/.478 the previous year for the Angels.

Yep, things sure are looking up in Florida…

Post from: Knuckle Curve