Article:The Slow Decline Of Johan and The Twins

Johan Santana liked the fans in Minnesota, but the more you think about it, he had no reason to have loyalty to the team and take a discount to stay. When Johan came up with the Twins he wanted to start and he was told he would be in the bullpen. When he wanted to win, the Twins traded Luis Castillo, a close friend of Johan.

-The Twins signed Johan to a 4-year, $39.75 Million deal in 2005 -Johan wins 2 Cy-Young Awards (2004,2006) (received all 1st-place votes, both times). -Johan wins Gold-Glove award (2007) -Won Pitching Triple Crown (K’s, ERA, W’s) in 2006. -17 K’s in game vs. Texas Rangers

In 2007 Barry Zito signed a 7-year $126 Million contract with the Giants

When we first realized we were not going to be keeping Johan, Twins fans ran rampant on trade rumors.

Early on the Twins were going to get: David Wright, Jose Reyes and Kevin Youkilis. Things were looking pretty because we looked like we were getting a potential SS or 3B (this when we still had Bartlett). All these guys have ML experience and are serious players.

Soon it became obvious that the Mets were not going to give us Wright or Reyes. It was now up to getting their best prospects. We were looking at 8-1, 7-1 trades. Things were still looking pretty good, as the Twins were going to REALLY stockpile their prospects with quality players.

Winter Meetings Came: The Twins were able to name their prospects and they were getting Ellsbury, Buchholz, Lester, Masterson, Lowrie and others from the Sox, Hughes, Cabrera, Jackson, Tabata, Ramirez and Ian Kennedy from the Yankees, and Martinez, Gomez, Mulvey, Pelfrey, Humber and Guerra from the Mets.

Time expired. We learned yesterday that Johan gave the Twins a deadline of Tuesday. The Twins were handcuffed. The Yankees/Sox/Mets could all give lesser deals and they did. The Twins chose 4 top prospects instead of 3 ok players.

Let’s Give This Time and remember…Johan handcuffed Billy Smith.

The Twins of ’08 will NOT be the Twins of ’99. Those Twins featured rookies Doug Mientkiewicz, Corey Koskie, Chad Allen, Cristian Guzman, AJ Pierzynski, Mike Lincoln, Joe Mays, Dan Perkins, JC Romero, Mark Redman, Benj Sampson, Bob Radlosky, Gary Rath and Jason Ryan. The ’08 Twins have legit players like Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Young. They are going to be ok. Maybe not a division winner, but they’ll be ok.