Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
Don’t shoot the messenger, nostalgia lovers. I am only passing along some information that you might find interesting.
Johan Santana update: told he has offers. Nothing imminent. That can change fast though. #MNTwins have NOT made an offer. Remain interested.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) December 30, 2013
This is not a huge development, but the fact the Minnesota Twins haven’t yet offered even a minor league deal to Johan Santana yet is pretty surprising. Especially since a possible Twins-Johan reunion is thought to be very low-risk/high-reward for the ball club.
I would expect the Twins to at least go through the motions and throw a contract offer Johan’s way. That being said, the Twins do not need to and should not attempt to overpay for an aging, recently injury-prone pitcher.
Rumblings of a reunion started earlier this offseason coming from a fan base that is not used to big moves. After Terry Ryan signed starters Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes the cries for a Johan return have quieted.
Santana had his most successful years in a Twins uniform, winning the 2004 and 2006 American League Cy Young awards and appearing in three All-Star games.
The Twins traded Santana before he hit the free agent market in an attempt to get talent in return for their star pitcher. The Twins ended up with Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey.
A return of Johan could result in heartbreak, but it can’t be as much of a disaster then the trade that sent him away.