Santana Claus Going to Boston?

The great Will Carroll, over at Baseball Prospectus, is reporting that a deal to send Johan Santana to the Red Sox is "all but done," with Minnesota getting Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, Ryan Kalish and an unnamed center fielder. If that center fielder turns out to be Jacoby Ellsbury, then I'm quite happy with the news. We all saw what Ellsbury and Lester are capable of in September, and the other two players are very good prospects as well. Plus, the players are only Minnesota's price. The Red Sox will still have to contend with Santana's price, as the pitcher won't waive his no trade clause without a long term deal. Considering what Barry Zito got last season, the Sox will be lucky to sign Santana for "just" $120 million over six years. Obviously Santana is a great pitcher, and I don't relish the idea of seeing him in a Red Sox uniform, but I'm glad to see Boston pay so heavily. Of course, I won't be quite as happy if the unnamed center fielder is Coco Crisp, but I've got a feeling that that's not the case.

Back in the Saddle

Late November tends to be pretty slow as far as baseball is concerned, so I took a little time off from blogging. However, it's now December, and that means it's time for the Winter Meetings; that magical time of year when the 30 MLB teams' general managers, managers, assistant general managers, player development staff, public relations spinsters, trainers, lawyers, accountants and coffee boys turn some random hotel into The Baseball Capital of the World for one week. This year, it's the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN, which I will henceforth be calling the Gaylord Perry Hotel.

The Yankees headed into Nashville this morning knowing that whatever happens at the meetings, this will have been a good week. That's because before they left, Andy Pettitte let them know that he wanted to put the pinstripes on for another season. It was a surprising announcement, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Not only does Pettitte help solidify a rotation that's heavily dependent on unproven talent, but he also greatly decreases the team's need for Johan Santana. One of my biggest fears about this week was that the Yankees would overpay for Santana, and hopefully this means that they won't.