Johan Santana Joins the New York Mets

The sweepstakes for Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana abruptly ended today when news broke that the Twins had tentatively agreed to deal Santana to the New York Mets for four prospects. USA Today writer Bob Nightengale was the first to report the story. This deal came as a surprise to many baseball fans after weeks of speculation that the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox were the favorites to acquire the two-time Cy Young Award winner.

Santana, who has a career record of 93-44 and 3.22 ERA, is widely regarded as the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. The trade will be complete pending a physical and the two sides reaching a long-term contract extension.

The Mets are being applauded for the move bolstering their starting lineup, which already headlines future Hall-of-Famer Pedro Martinez and budding prospect John Maine. With Santana possibly locked up through the prime of his career, the Mets would have a 1-2-3 punch that will be very imposing in a five or seven game playoff series.

The Twins, however, have not received many pats on the back. Sean Deveney of the SportingNews reports that the Santana haul was not worth the wait for Twins.

The Twins tried to create a bidding war between the Yankees and Red Sox and now appear that they scared both teams away from the bargaining table. Both AL-East teams seemingly offered more attractive packages for Santana in weeks past.

The Twins walk away with speedy OF Carloz Gomez, right-handed pitcher Phil Humber, who had Tommy John surgery in 2005, and minor-league pitchers Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerral; both who are a few years away from the majors.

Only time will tell who gets the better end of this deal, but early reports seem to call the Mets the runaway winner.