Tarnishing Memories: The Possible Return of Johan Santana
Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
I had my hopes dashed last season. The Minnesota Twins signed Rich Harden to a minor league deal and I was conductor of the Rich Harden fan club train. I was positive Rich Harden was going to be in the Twins starting rotation because he used to be pretty good and the Twins rotation was shaping up to be pretty sucky. We might be about to experience that again.
Even after the Pelfrey agreement, the #MNTwins are maintaining dialogue w/ Johan Santana's representatives. Johan is very open to a return.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) December 17, 2013
Twins fans love Johan Santana and for good reason. He anchored the Twins rotation a couple of times in the playoffs, made a couple All-Star appearances and won a couple Cy Young awards. These are good memories that we should cherish, but do we really want to taint those memories?
Let’s face it, Santana is not as good as he was when he was sent away to the New York Mets. He’s been consistently hurt and is just that much older (35 on Opening Day). Do Twins fans really want to ruin memories with such a prized member of Twins history just to see if he can still pitch? No less when the Twins already have about five other options for the fifth spot in the rotation.
Santana would cost pennies, so financially it’s a good deal. Can Twins fans stand the constant reminders on sports talk stations that Johan Santana is in Triple-A if he does sign and doesn’t make the team? Can we handle that?
We are emotional. Emotion makes us irrational. Let’s stand back and think about this. Are we willing to risk the potential heartbreak?
Your ex always looks better through the tears of 90 loss seasons and a God awful starting rotation.