The Twins have traded Johan Santana to the Mets for outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. Santana will definately be missed by the Twins. He won two Cy Young Awards for the Twins and he was an American League All-Star three times. Santana pitched in 33 games last season (33 starts) for the Twins and he was 15-13 with a 3.33 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Santana pitched in 251 games (175 starts) in his career with the Twins and he was 93-44 with 1 save, a 3.22 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He whiffed an amazing 1,381 batters in 1.308.2 innings with the Twins.

22-year old righty swinging Carlos Gomez will battle Craig Monroe for the center field position in spring training. Gomez played in 58 games for the Mets last season and he was 29 for 125 (.232 avg, .592 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers, 12 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Gomez also played in 41 games in A+AAA ball last season and he was 42 for 153 (.275 avg, .747 OPS) with 25 runs scored, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. 25 year old righty starter Philip Humber will battle for a spot in the rotation this spring. Humber pitched in 25 games (all starts) in AAA ball last season and he was 11-9 with a 4.27 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Humber also pitched in 3 games (1 start) last season for the Mets and he was 0-0 with a 7.71 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has now pitched in 5 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 0-0 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. 22-year old righty starter Kevin Mulvey pitched in 27 games (all starts) in AA+AAA ball and he was 12-10 with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. 19 year old righty Deolis Guerra pitched in 21 games (20 starts) in A-ball last season and he was 2-6 with a 4.01 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. It appears that the Twins got the short end of the stick in this trade as both the Yanks and Red Sox offers appeared much more attractive.

With the Twins getting ready to move into a new stadium soon, a case could be made for locking up Johan Santana to lead the rotation in the future. It appears likely that Santana’s career in Minnesota will be over before Spring Training starts as they Twins want to save some cash. All Santana has done for the Twins is compile a 93-44 record with 1 save, a 3.22 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 251 games (175 starts). Santana has also whiffed 1,381 batters in 1308.2 innings pitched for the Twins. Still, the Twins will have a talented but young rotation. They will likely have Francisco Liriano back to led the rotation as his rehab has gone well this off season. Boof Bonser, Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker all appear to have inside track to rotation spots behind Liriano but the Twins will likely get some major league ready arms back for Santana. Still, it’s a shame the Twins are going to move him.

The Twins have signed 29-year old righty Zach Day and 31-year old lefty Randy Keisler to minor league contracts. Day last pitched in the majors in 2006 with the Nationals and Rockies. Day has pitched in 86 games (60 starts) in his major league career and he is 21-27 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Keisler pitched in 4 games (3 starts) for the Cardinals last year and he was 0-0 with a 5.19 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. Keisler has now pitched in 55 games (20 starts) in his major league career and he is 4-4 with a 6.63 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP.