The New York Mets Should Not Trade for Johan Santana

Earlier this week there was a report that the New York Yankees are talking to the Minnesota Twins about acquiring Johan Santana. One of the suitors previous to the New York Yankees was the New York Mets. Though everybody is automatically assuming the Yankees will now get Johan Santana there was one report today that said don't be surprised if the Mets are still in the running.

If I'm the New York Mets I let the New York Yankees have Johan Santana. We all know that Johan Santana is the premier starting pitcher in all of baseball. Johan Santana is as close to automatic as any starting pitcher in baseball. But when it comes down to it Johan Santana is going to be too expensive.

I don't mean Johan Santana will be too expensive in the amount of dollars. The New York Mets can afford to sign Johan Santana, especially with the new ballpark coming up.

Johan Santana will be too expensive when it comes to what the New York Mets will have to give up in a trade. Last I heard the Minnesota Twins would want two prospects and two pitchers, possibly both Major League pitchers.

I don't have a problem with the New York Mets giving up a prospect, say a Lastings Milledge or a Carlos Gomez, but the Mets don't have pitchers to spare.

Tom Glavine is already gone meaning the rotation is now: Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and either Mike Pelfrey or Phillip Humber.

Now let's say the New York Mets trade for Johan Santana and they have to give the Minnesota Twins two pitchers. One will almost definitely be John Maine and the other could be Oliver Perez. Now you have: Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey and Phillip Humber.

Both Pelfrey and Humber have looked pretty awful when they have been called up so far so having them as your fourth and fifth starters probably isn't a good thing. Santana/Pedro/El Duque could be a great trio if 100% but what are the chances of that?

Pedro Martinez and El Duque have both been injured the past two seasons so it wouldn't be surprising if at some point they were both injured this season. Then your starting rotation is: Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Phillip Humber, ???, ???. Does anybody really want to take that chance? As great as Johan Santana is he's not going to win 80 games by himself.

The New York Mets should let the New York Yankees have Johan Santana and instead should get Dan Haren from the Oakland A's. Dan Haren is obviously not as good as Johan Santana, nobody is, but he's the next best option. Plus the Oakland A's are the masters at taking prospects and turning them into All-Stars. The Oakland A's aren't looking for Major League staring pitchers like Maine and Perez and would rather have prospects like Pelfrey or Humber.

I know keeping Perez and Maine might not seem like a big deal to some because Perez still has control issues and Maine faltered at the end of the season but they're still the two most reliable pitchers the New York Mets have and getting Johan Santana will do no good if you lose the rest of your rotation in the process.

Ultimately getting Dan Haren would mean replacing Tom Glavine with Dan Haren, a big upgrade in my opinion. If Pedro Martinez is healthy at all that's an upgrade in another spot. After that you hope Maine, Perez and Pelfrey or Humber improves. If you're still not sure then get some other insurance like a Livan Hernandez.