Benjamin Grimm

The Mets can offer to throw in Rick Ownbey.

The latest update from Newsday's Ken Davidoff includes the following: With the Yankees and Red Sox all but out of the bidding, the Mets can continue to insist on holding on to outfield prospect Fernando Martinez, leaving their offer at outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey. The Twins appear determined to trade Santana before camp. If it's four for one, and those are the four, then I'm in favor of that deal. They're keeping Pelfrey, and they're keeping Martinez.

He's a scandal waiting to happen.

The Frank Viola trade is more of an exception than a rule, I think. Generally, I'd say that in a trade of multiple young players for an established star, the team getting the established player ends up better off. The Jim Fregosi deal is another one of those exceptions. (And for a non-Mets trade, so is the one for Von Hayes.) But look at the Mets trades involving Tom Seaver and Gary Carter. Some of the young players involved turned out to be okay, but not nearly as valuable as the big guy that was sent in return.

Okay, so the Twins liked Church better than Milledge, so Omar trades Lasty for Churchy so he'd have a better shot at Santana. I can buy that, I guess. But if Gomez is also going to Minnesota (and even if he isn't) doesn't that leave us short a starting outfielder just a few weeks before spring training starts? Or does Endy get promoted? Or Pagan? (Martinez certainly won't.) Or do they pick up one of the many remaining free agents off the scrap heap, like Kenny Lofton or someone like that?

And this is the view from Minnesota. It's from the Twins Mailbag on MLB.com. Kelly Thesier is the Twins' version of Marty Noble, although she's a bit cuter. (Sorry, Marty.) Kelly Thesier wrote: What's taking so long with the Santana deal? None of the three teams -- the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets -- have given in through the first few months and it seems their offers are not going to change now. Do you have any idea about finish for this marathon? -- Chris F., Grant, Minn. Santana remains the hot topic in Minnesota, but it appears that the solution to the saga is right around the corner. Club officials indicated to me this weekend that this situation will be settled within the week. I think the Twins are at the point where they will have teams give them their final offers for Santana and decide how they want to proceed -- whether that's completing a trade now or heading to Spring Training with their ace. The overwhelming consensus is that a trade will occur. The Morneau and Cuddyer deals had some people thinking that the Twins possibly could re-sign their ace. But one of the sticking points throughout the offseason has been the contract that Santana is seeking. The most recent estimates were that Santana wants a six-year extension worth around $150 million. That's far beyond the realm of what the Twins are willing to spend on Santana. While some teams have hesitated to pay that and give up prospects, it seems that all three sides -- the Twins, Santana's camp and the other teams involved -- could be more willing to compromise a little with Spring Training now less than three weeks away. Right now it still appears that the Mets are the frontrunners in this race. Yankees GM Brian Cashman made clear his position on Santana this weekend while speaking to group at William Paterson University in New Jersey. Cashman said that he'd like to pass on Santana and stick with his young pitchers. And the Red Sox have remained steady in their offers with no real news on that front. No team is considered to be out of contention and so far, Twins GM Bill Smith has not tipped his hand to what may occur. It's still a waiting game, but one that finally may be coming to an end.

I thought about that too. Maine or Perez would fit the bill of a "major league ready" player that the Twins want, and it might be the sweetener to get the deal done. But it also means widening the gap that Santana is supposed to fill. Sure, Santana will replace Glavine, but who, then, replaces Maine or Perez? (Actually, I guess Santana replaces Maine/Perez and Livan Hernandez or Kyle Lohse replaces Glavine.)

Maybe. But Santana is coming back in the deal. So you have four starters under 30: Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, and Perez, all capable of starting in 2008. Add Pedro and Orlando Hernandez, plus Sosa, there should be plenty of starting pitchers available in 2008. They would need to find somebody for 2009, though. Pedro or Hernandez may or may not come back, but even if they do, they'll be one year older and one year less reliable. But I think the seven starters the Mets would have in the fold for 2008 would be sufficient.

Here's the key paragraph from that article by Ken Davidoff: The Mets are willing to give up multiple prospects for Santana, who wants a six-year, $150-million extension in return for waiving his no-trade clause. To date, however, the Mets have not relented on giving up minor-league outfielder Fernando Martinez in addition to outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey. Those are pretty much the same names we heard a few weeks ago. What Davidoff doesn't make clear is which side is expected to bend in the next ten days. Do the Mets include Martinez, or will the Twins withdraw their insistence that he be included? I'm not crazy about losing Guerra and Mulvey at once, but I probably would have said the same thing a dozen years ago about Isringhausen and Pulsipher. At least they'd be keeping Pelfrey, Maine, and Perez, so the Mets wouldn't be short on young pitching. But if Gomez and Martinez follow Milledge out of town, the Mets are short on young outfielders. Is Endy the fourth outfielder in 2008, and Pagan the fifth? Are there any free-agent replacements for Alou who will be available next winter? And does that leave them deep enough for this season? I'm hoping they can avoid a situation where this year's version of Michael Tucker or Ben Johnson is getting a lot of outfield starts in 2008.

Yes. Does it mean that the Twins are spending? Or that they've spent?

Oh! I thought you preferred your electricians to be dastardly.

Carl Everett! You've been sent to the house of a famous movie star to give him a massage, but when you get there, he appears to be dead. You don't have Mary Kate Olsen's phone number, just your Ultimate Mets Rolodex. Who do you call?

Because he doesn't want to get a subpoena from Congress.

AG/DC wrote: Yeah, dumb idea. I'm just suddenly tremendously curious about Ryan. I think he's guilty! GUILTY! GUILTY! Remember how "remarkable" it was how he was pitching so effectively deep into his forties? How his fastball still had most or all of its juice? It's not at all remarkable anymore.

If the price comes down enough, maybe we can all chip in and buy a name for it. How about "William A. Shea Municipal Field"?

Has the new park in DC been given (or sold) a name yet?

Well, if he's pondering who will be the best third basemen over the next five years, it's not silly to point out that Chipper will be 41 at the end of that period.

Arguing with Steve is as pointless as arguing with Ira. When you argue with Steve, he changes his argument, but maintains his position. When you argue with Ira, he changes your argument.

Nitpicking over whether or not it was the biggest collapse ever is pointless. It was plenty big enough for me. If another collapse was bigger, it offers scant comfort.

This is really nothing to get worked up about. I don't imagine much "time" was wasted by these people on this foolish idea. It's not like a dozen people toiled over this for weeks on end. It's more like one of those resolutions that legislative bodies often pass, like declaring "Bathroom Tissue Week" or something like that. It's a sop to Puerto Rican constituents and isn't binding on anybody. Should they have done it? No. But they did. No big deal.

Two guys named O. Perez will REALLY screw up my Schaefering!

Jon Heyman, on SI.com, is saying that the Twins like Gomez more than they like Martinez.

AG/DC wrote: MLB.com has an interview with Maine at 2:00. I hope they ask him why he's been so secretive about his dad.

Jason Phillips? I can't recognize most of those guys.

They look like they should be singing "You Gotta Have Heart." I don't know that they need a back-page splash either, but my appetite sorely needs whetting. Spring training is only a few weeks away and I'm not yet feeling any sense of anticipation. I can't remember a winter (other than the one between 1994 and 1995) when I got this deep into January without any baseball eagerness kicking in. Maybe it's just me, though.