Yesterday, the Santana to the Red Sox hot stove started to get quite heated. In fact, there are several sources all reporting the same trade. Santana to the Red Sox for Coco Crisp, Jon Lester and Jed Lowrie with a fourth player that varies. TwinsGeek.com has an excellent breakdown of the players involved.
Coco Crisp – Two years ago he was a cheap, 26-year-old center fielder with over 1500 major league at-bats with an above average bat. Now he’s a somewhat fragile 28-year-old center fielder with a below average bat and a two-year, $10.5 million contract.
…
Jon Lester – Well, we know he’s a cancer survivor. That’s important, because he’s quite a bit more valuable to the Twins than if he wasn’t. But other than being a young pitcher (he’s 23), I don’t know that much more about him, other than he’s not Clay Buchholz.
…
Jed Lowrie – The hidden player that the Twins are likely quietly lusting for. He’s 23 years old, but he’s also a Stanford alum who exploded through AA-Portland and AAA-Pawtucket last year. He moved from second to shortstop last year, though I haven’t seen any reviews of his defense.
…
Michael Bowden and Justin Masterson – We’ll put these guys together since they’re both pitchers who show promise but haven’t advanced beyond AA. They’re both right-handed, both have high strikeout rates (around 1 per IP) and were both born about the time I was losing my virginity. Hmmm. You know, that’s not as depressing a thought as I thought it would be.
There is more information on TwinsGeek.com about each player with a more statistical look at each player.
Also this morning, rumors that Clay Buchholz has replaced Jon Lester in the trade talks are starting to heat up. It’s going to be an interesting weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised if a deal gets done over the weekend – the chatter is getting too loud for something not to happen, and the Twins really gain nothing by waiting.
It’s been a pretty slow writing day for me today. I’ve been reading a lot online about various topics. Below is what’s caught my eye in the past few days (minus of course the unusually high amount of items that have been out on the Twins in part to Santana, Hunter and Garza).
Bad ideas whose time came: All-time worst company domain names
Foreclosure: Daily Doom and Gloom
More Stats for Your Next Cocktail Party
Now A Second Auctioneer Gets It
Falling prices may lead to higher sales
As you can see, I’m all over the board with my reading. Although, I didn’t list even 1/3rd of the articles I’ve been reading about the Twins. In those readings, I’ve heard it all – the Twins got robbed, the D-Rays got robbed, Santana is over the hill, the Twins trade demands are crazy, it’s all there. I’m not sure I can remember a time the Twins were more talked about besides the days of contraction.
Most of my reading has been sports related. However, I’ve been ratcheting up my attention to the sub-prime mortgage situation and the effect it is having on mortgage foreclosures. It’s been an interesting few months. It’ll really be interesting to see how things play out into the spring market. Interestingly enough, our phone is starting to ring with people ready to sell, some ready to buy, and an assortment of tire kickers. Maybe, just maybe, we’ve hit peak?
