The Twins continue to work on a deal with free agent righthander Ervin Santana, according to a person with knowledge of negotiations.
It's the best chance the Twins have to leave the winter meetings with something. Meanwhile, all heck broke loose at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in the wee hours of the morning as Matt Kemp was shipped to the Padres and the Red Sox dealt for Rick Porcello.
Seriously, Padres officials spilled out of the elevators at 3 a.m. PST and started talking about the deal. I wasn't there, I heard about it this morning. I sleep for four hours and miss two interesting trades.
Two Twins officials have shot down reports that they have offered Santana a four-year, $50 million contact. That makes sense. If Brandon McCarthy is getting $12M a year and Francisco Liriano gets $13M a year, then Santana has every right to ask for $14-15 million (my guess) because he at least knows what it's like to pitch 200 innings in a season a few times,
Hear Santana is a good guy with a dry sense of humor. His nickname is "Magic", ha.
One scout I talked to is concerned that Santana has thrown so many sliders in his career that it's bound to catch up with him. Interesting.
Stay tuned. There is a report the Yankees might make a run at Santana,
