Good-bizzle Jo-hizzle

 

I'll admit that my biggest flaw as a sports fan is that I expect players to be more loyal then they actually are, but I am not saying players should stay when it doesn't make sense to.

 

However, I generally get upset when they cling to years of the contract as the sticking point of a deal and downright dislike the ones who ask to be traded before it's up because the team did not hold up their end of the bargain.  What is forgetten is that they gave up their opinion on the topic when they wanted the security of an "eight" year deal. 

Sign a three year deal and show your team that you are worth the money...when the deal is over decide if you and your club are both moving in the same direction and go from there.

I feel like I am in the minority on this topic.
That being said...

Johan Santana did not have to be traded. 

The four year / $80 million extension the Twins offered was fair.  After the contract would have been honored, he'd have been able to enter free agency as an elite 33-year-old left handed starter with two to four Cy Youngs under his belt.  This trade, as are most, was all about years.  Johan can say that he wanted what was best for the Twins, but the truth is a much different picture then he painted. 

He forced this trade.  We were only able to get a portion of his value because of the restrictions he placed on the deal, because he had all the power.

I read the Pioneer Press this morning.  I was surprised by all the negative print Bill Smith is getting.  Did he take the best deal offered to him? No.  Did he get market value? Definitely not.  Does this allow the Twins to compete in 2008? No, but they were the third best team in the Central with Santana.

Would I have chosen the same deal he did? Yes. 

The fact that Fernando Martinez is not a Minnesota Twin right now is unfortunate.  Smith needed to get him and I will admit he failed there.  But I would take the Mets package with a handful of useful players, sending him to the National League, over the Red Sox and Yankee's offers as they were. 

Look at the Knoblauch and Pierzynski deals.  Look at how the Twins brass have, as a whole, done far better acquiring "talent" then other franchises.  We need to let this one play out before we start throwing rocks.

Don't get me wrong though...if the offers would have been different, my tune on what we should have done would have been as well.

In the end, I understand that we will likely be seen as the losers in this deal.  It's hard not to be when you're trading away the best pitcher in baseball.

Am I upset with the Twins? Not really.

Am I worried about our staff? Yes.

Am I upset with Johan? Regretfully, yes.

Fortunately for me, Johan will be a Met soon and I will be able to eventually cheer for him again.  I have absolutely loved watching him pitch over the years.  I'm grateful he's not a Yankee (or Red Sox, surprisingly) and I will just bide my time until I can appreciate he talents as a pitcher again.  I may hold a little grudge against him this year but it will not be long before I am enjoying highlights of him pitching.

He's the best pitcher I have ever been able to watch on a consistent basis.  I will miss his tenacity and willpower.  Most of all, I will miss seeing his changeup make batters consistently look silly.

I'll admit that it was fun while it lasted...and maybe I will be able to say the same thing about Liriano someday (minus the being traded portion of this post). 

I do have a soft spot for southpaws you know.