Between a rock and a hard place

Johan Santana will not be at TwinsFest this weekend, but one wonders if Santana will be in Fort Myers, Fla., with his old teammates on Feb. 17 when pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

The Twins have spent the offseason bogged down in talks with the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets about their two-time Cy Young Award winner. They've tried different approaches to get a deal done, but with no success. And fans shouldn't hold their breath hoping the Twins will suddenly sign Santana to a contract extension. One Twins official said this week there have been no recent contract talks.

The Twins don't want to bring Santana to camp under these circumstances, but they also don't want to trade him for what they perceive as 20 cents on the dollar in terms of talent return.

However, the worst-case scenario will begin to play out this weekend at TwinsFest, as single-game tickets will go on sale to a fan base trying to determine if they will have Santana in a Twins uniform or someone from the group of Carlos Gomez, Phillip Hughes or Jacoby Ellsbury to root for.

This scenario will worsen as spring training nears and Santana is bombarded by national media questions about his future and teammates will be asked daily for their thoughts. Neither the Twins nor Santana's camp want that to happen. It's such a concern that Peter Greenberg, Santana's agent, admitted during a telephone conversation this week that he will need to discuss strategy with Santana soon on how to handle things if he is forced to report to camp with the Twins.

What Greenberg wouldn't address is if Santana will refuse to waive his no-trade clause once he reports, but that possibility surely exists. It's unclear if the Twins have been told that yet -- but it appears that they have stepped up their efforts to make a deal happen before camp begins.

The Twins have been in contact with all three teams this week. Let's begin with the Mets because they currently appear to have the best chance of landing Santana.

The Twins would like the Mets to add outfield prospect Fernando Martinez to a package of outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. According to persons familiar with talks, the Mets view Martinez as practically untouchable and might not include him even to replace Gomez in the deal. The clubs have talked about adding another player to the deal, such as pitcher Aaron Heilman. A report out of New York on Thursday had Ryan Church as a possible addition.

The Yankees remain in contact despite claiming recently that they have pulled out of talks. Another person with knowledge of the talks said a lot of discussion has focused on the third and fourth players in any deal, which suggests that top pitching prospect Phil Hughes and outfielder Melky Cabrera remain the top players in the package.

The Red Sox have been willing to tweak the back end of their offers to make a trade, but the Twins still would have to work with either a deal led by outfield prospect Jacoby Ellsbury or another led by lefthander Jon Lester -- but not both in the same deal. The Red Sox seem the least likely to deal for Santana at this point because they don't need him as much as the other teams do -- but there's always the concern that the Yankees will land Santana and make things tough for the Sox in the AL East.

If the worst-case scenario continues into spring training, look for the Twins to sign a temporary fix for center field -- such as Kenny Lofton or Corey Patterson. The next week should determine if the Twins really need such a contingency plan.

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