FINALLY!!!!

After several long, excruciating months of speculation, rumors, and overall bullshit, the landing place for Johan Santana has been decided.

The Big Apple will welcome it's newest shining star, but it's not the Yankees. The New York Mets have swept in and landed not only the best pitcher on the market, but arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball. The deal (pending a contract extension worth likely an exorbitant amount and a physical) will send Santana to the Mets for 4 prospects: outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.

All I can say is THANK GOD! I was growing more tired of this shit than I was of A Rod-gate and the Clemens Report.

(A side note: I am glad I am not from Minnesota. Every sports fan in that state must either be contemplating suicide or planning to destroy the East coast. Sorry Minny fans.)

Young Knuckleballer Analysis
This is the biggest baseball trade since the Pedro Martinez trade from the Montreal Expos to the Boston Red Sox. These are the kind of lop-sided deals that can set a franchise like the Twins back 3 years. They are already stocked with young talent like Joe Mauer and Francisco Liriano, they needed the Leadership that Santana provided much more than extra young talent. Basically, the Twinkies didn't want to pay Santana's sky-high market value. I understand that they don't have a very big payroll because they are a small market team with a cheap owner. On the one hand, I feel bad for teams like the A's, Rays, Marlins, Royals, and Twins...Major League Baseball needs to figure out a way to deal with this situation...but on the other hand, I'm a Tiger's Fan so I can't complain too much, considering he's out of the AL Central and he's not on another AL Contender like the Red Sox or Yankees.

The Twins weren't going to compete for the Division or a playoff spot anyway, so let's look at the other half of the pie. The Mets gave up some solid young talent for the Best Pitcher in Baseball right now. People can make arguments for Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, or Dan Haren, but let's be serious here. If you were to bet your life on one pitcher to win you a game (forgetting about the team around him) you'd bet on Santana. Even though he had a "down year" last season (still above average by most players standards), he is still the most freakishly talented Pitcher in the sport by far, and at age 28 he's Prime Rib.

The Mets have had the offensive fire power to rival any team in baseball the past 2 years, but with sub-par pitching they haven't been able to put it all together. They still have pitching issues, but when you have the best pitcher in the league at the front of your rotation, the Mets have to be the favorites in the National League. Last year they fell apart down the stretch thanks to numerous Pitching Meltdowns. Well, there's no way that would happen again this year. When you have Santana trotting out to the mound every 5 games, you have to like your chances.

You gotta be happy for Johan here. He finally goes to a winner. The Twins were solid for a few years, even making the playoffs and threatening the top teams in the American League for a stretch, but they were always underdogs in the big games. Now he goes to a place where he has a legit chance to get a World Series Ring. It also doesn't hurt that he's in a Super High Profile market where he can make a boatload of cash. This wasn't the case in Minny. Overall, this is an outstanding day for the Mets and Santana, and a very sad day for Twins Fans.