Comments on: One ace, four prospects, $137.5 million, and a blockbuster trade no one is happy about

By: surefooted1

surefooted1 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:40:12 +0000

You could say they got Granderson and CC for Jackson, Coke et al and cash (haha that reads funny). So yea, they could be considered winners.

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:27:39 +0000

Don’t forget, Cashman made the gamble that CC would be available the following year. So the choice was Santana for prospects and a huge contract, or CC for just a huge contract.

By: btwicey

btwicey — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:22:41 +0000

Facinsting. I still love u twins

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:04:23 +0000

Aaron, I assume your bucket list is now complete. Baseball prospectus AND SGT. SLAUGHTER!!!! Duuuude…

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:26:27 +0000

Knowing the Twins, they wouldn’t have drafted anyone worth a damn anyway.

By: pmcenroe

pmcenroe — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:11:24 +0000

**collected draft picks not prospects

By: pmcenroe

pmcenroe — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:09:53 +0000

the real bummer is with looking back on all the recent playoffs loses for the Twins then to think what could have been in 2008 if they would have just held on to Santana and collected the prospects when he walked. They would have won the division instead of losing the 1 game playoff to Chicago and would have completely avoided the Yankees in the playoffs. Who knows what would have happened but it still stings a bit thinking what might have been..

By: kopy

kopy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:08:38 +0000

What’s wrong with that statement? Jackson and Gomez are both fast center fielders with plus defense that often put the ball in play, but take way more Ks than BBs when they don’t, and also have the ability to hit HRs once in a while. It’s just that Jackson is better at it.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:03:50 +0000

Congrats on getting published in BP, Aaron! Totally cool.
I think it’s a pretty clear-cut win for the Mets, in retrospect. It also makes me sad as a Twins fan to see the kind of prospect packages that moved around this winter for pitchers who aren’t of the caliber Santana was. Then again, those pitchers moving around all had more service time.

By: Bryz

Bryz — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:43:50 +0000

Meant to reply to weaselpuppy….

Edit function.
Edit function
EDIT FUNCTION!

By: Bryz

Bryz — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:42:22 +0000

Jackson (career): .271/.331/.387, .321 wOBA, 7.7 BB%, 26.1 K%, 6.8 UZR/150

Gomez (career): .243/.291/.357, .292 wOBA, 5.2 BB%, 22.5%, 16.1 UZR/150

Skill sets are similar, Jackson is overall better except strikeouts and UZR/150, and you’re complaining about the comparison? As far as I’m concerned, it’s accurate. Jackson is a rich man’s Carlos Gomez, Gomez is a poor man’s Austin Jackson.

By: weaselpuppy

weaselpuppy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:20:43 +0000

Austin Jackson is a rich man’s Carlos Gomez?wtf?

nope, no Tiger hater there….why don’t you and Bill Simmons get together and crap on Joe Louis’ grave and get it over with…

By: sdelmonte

sdelmonte — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:16:00 +0000

The Mets got some good years out of Santana. It’s not like his injury was something you could predict. And he might yet return and pitch. Really, the only problem here is the size of his contract, and had the Wilpons managed their money better, this would just be a nuisance.

On the whole, I think this is far from the worst deal the Mets or any other has ever made. The real lessons here are: 1) you take a risk with prospects; and 2) you take a risk giving pitchers long contracts.

By: phukyouk

phukyouk — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:14:32 +0000

So the team that won in this whole trade was the Yanks? By not making the trade they were able to acquire Granderson for Jackson?

By: WhenMattStairsIsKing

WhenMattStairsIsKing — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:47:15 +0000

I can’t even imagine if the Twins got Lester and Masterson instead of the crud they ended up getting from the Mets. Minnesota would have been one very powerful team.

By: sometogethernow

sometogethernow — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:38:35 +0000

Nice article.

I might have liked to see you revisit the arguments for both the Twins and the Mets NOT making the trade they eventually made, especially the Twins, since I recall reading some pretty credible arguments at that time for retaining Santana if they couldn’t get a really elite trade return.

Also, have the Mets not gotten any insurance help for Santana’s contract?