Twins showing some give in efforts to trade Santana

The club appears willing to adjust earlier demands in its quest for a deal, but GM Bill Smith remains patient.

Star Tribune

Last update: January 4, 2008 - 10:48 PM

There is roughly six weeks before Twins pitchers and catchers report for spring training and, the way things are going, a media horde could be on hand to bombard ace lefthander Johan Santana, teammates and the club about why he's still with the Twins.

But don't expect that to happen.

New General Manager Bill Smith continues to be patient as he tries to get the best deal possible from the Red Sox, Yankees or Mets. Smith remains mostly mum on Santana's status, but discussions with several people with knowledge of the trade talks suggest that the Twins recently have adjusted their demands.

For instance, indications earlier in the offseason were that the Twins wanted the Yankees to include righthanded pitching prospect Ian Kennedy in a package led by prized young righthander Phil Hughes and center fielder Melky Cabrera. Now it's believed that the Twins are willing to accept other players instead of Kennedy.

Recent reports have righthander Jeff Marquez as part of the deal.

Lefthander Kei Igawa, who floundered to a 2-3 record and 6.25 ERA in his first year after arriving from Japan, also has been mentioned in talks with the Yankees, perhaps as a fourth player in the package. His salary -- $4 million annually over the next four seasons -- shouldn't be a problem for a club whose payroll would drop under $50 million if Santana is traded.

Another development has been the emergence in trade talks of the Mets, who were believed to have no shot at landing Santana unless All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes was included in the deal.

The Twins now have let it be known that the Mets have other players to package for Santana. Several Mets prospects, including outfielders Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez and pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey, have been mentioned as part of deals throughout the offseason. Gomez could step right in and play center field. Martinez, perhaps the Mets' top prospect, still needs a couple of years to develop. It's still hard to view the Mets as a serious player in this game, because although they have good young players, they lack quality talent at the front of the deal.

Mets GM Omar Minaya, by the way, leaves today for an eight-day goodwill tour of Israel and might have to negotiate through e-mail, if he can at all.

There has been little dialogue between the Red Sox and Twins lately but, as someone with knowledge of talks explained, each side knows where the other stands.

Boston still has two packages on the table. One consists of lefthander Jon Lester, outfielder Coco Crisp, infielder Jed Lowrie and righthander Justin Masterson. The other includes outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury -- who starred in the World Series -- Lowrie, Masterson and maybe a fourth player. The Red Sox are willing to tweak the back end of a deal, but there's no way Lester and Ellsbury will be packaged together.

Both the Twins and Santana's camp know that it's not in the best interests of either party to bring the Santana Sweepstakes to Fort Myers, Fla., for spring training. But the Twins continue to maintain that they will if they have to.

With Boston looking to build a dynasty in the AL East and the Yankees and Mets in need of starting pitching -- and control of the back page of New York sports sections -- perhaps someone will make that one phone call that Smith keeps talking about.

Or maybe send a critical e-mail from Israel.

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com

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