(This post was taken from an ESPN The Magazine online article posted December 2, 2007)By Rex Actry
Bristol, Conn. -- The New York Yankees likely will pull out of trade talks for Johan Santana if the Minnesota Twins don't make a decision by late Monday.
"I'm not going to be played against the Red Sox. That's not something I'll do. That's not something the Yankees should ever do, and that's I think what they're trying to do now," Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Sunday. "So if they want the best offer that has been offered to them, then they need to make up their minds."
The Yankees have proposed swapping pitcher Phil Hughes, center fielder Melky Cabrera and a midlevel prospect for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, who can become a free agent after next season.
Boston also is competing to land Santana. The Red Sox are thought to have offered a package that would include pitcher Jon Lester or center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury but not both. Center fielder Coco Crisp also could be part of a trade.
With the Minnesota Twins insisting on center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury in any trade for pitcher Johan Santana, the Red Sox have altered their offer and have told the Twins they are willing to include the outfielder.
The Yankees, meanwhile, have informed the Twins that they are going to pull their offer off the table soon -- perhaps by Tuesday at the latest -- unless they get an answer. The Yankees changed their offer on Friday, adding pitcher Phil Hughes after much internal debate, to go along with Melky Cabrera and a third prospect.
After news of the Yankees proposal was released, the Red Sox reshuffled their trade offer early Saturday to appear more lucrative than the Yankees, this time including Ellsbury, center fielder Coco Crisp, and a minor league prospect -- yet unknown, as well as cash incentives.
The Yankees had told the Twins they will not give them one of their top prospects as the third player in their offer -- not pitchers Ian Kennedy or Alan Horne, or outfielder Austin Jackson, for example. But after news of the Red Sox counteroffer, Saturday afternoon Hank Steinbrenner offered even more to Minnesota for the recent Cy Young winner. Steinbrenner included Hughes, Cabrera, designated hitter Jason Giambi and selected Yankees memorabilia – including historically significant items such as Mickey Mantle’s 500th home run and Joe Dimaggio’s wedding cake [with wife Marilyn Monroe].
"We'll see how it goes, but this is not an act. It's not a bluff. It's just reality," he said. "Because as much as I want Santana, and you can make that clear -- for his sake, to know that I do want him -- but the fact is that I'm not going to play the game. We've made them the best offer. And at this point, it's not going to get any better. So they can decide. At this point, it's up to them. I don't think they want to lose us in this thing, obviously. Nobody wants to lose the Yankees in a negotiation."
Upon hearing of the Yankees latest proposal, the Red Sox added nontraditional trade objects of their own. In addition to the aforementioned Ellsbury, Crisp, prospect, and cash, the Red Sox have verbally committed up to eight coveted box seat season tickets at Fenway Park for top front office executives at the Twins organization. The Twins front office quickly released the statement, “Although we are impressed with the Red Sox desire to acquire Johan, it is against Twins policy to accept offers of this nature when discussing trading a player” mid afternoon on Saturday. It is also unclear what the Twins would be able to do with the box seats if accepted.
But before the statement was made public, Steinbrenner bypassed his front office, including General Manager Brian Cashman, by personally calling the Twins front office where he reportedly offered Hughes, Cabrera, Giambi, Yankee memorabilia, and a “fun-filled” weekend at the Steinbrenner ranch in the Catskills.
Once news of the ineligibility of the Fenway Park tickets surfaced -- as well as the latest from Steinbrenner -- Theo Epstein, vice-president of baseball operations for the Red Sox contacted the Twins through back channels. Epstein has long been rumored to want Santana to build one of the most deadly rotations in baseball, which is especially needed in the heated rivalry of the AL East. Epstein countered Steinbrenner’s offer with the assurance that he could provide the Twins organization with “significant companionship”.
Not sure with the Red Sox latest offer, the Twins contacted the Yankee front office to disclose Epstein’s “personal” guarantee. Steinbrenner reportedly became very upset with the Red Sox assurance and said he would not be part of a tug-of-war over a player.
"We need to get things straightened out, and not wait around for them to run back to Boston and back to us, and then back to Boston," he said. "I'm not going to do that."
Steinbrenner released a “final” offer of Hughes, Cabrera, Giambi, memorabilia, a “fun-filled” weekend, personally giving fellatio to two Twins top execs -- on film -- as well as second basemen Robinson Cano.
A trade likely would have to be made on a “conditional” basis, giving the Yankees or Red Sox 72 hours to work out a new long-term contract for Santana, who is owed $13.25 million next season. Steinbrenner said the Yankees didn't want to wait too long, miss out on Santana and then find out it was too late to get involved in talks for other pitchers, such as Oakland's Dan Haren.
“Tell them I’ll ‘conditionally’ suck their cock! Tell them I’m serious!” Steinbrenner ordered, as reported by a Yankee insider, “Cock in mouth! I want Santana!”
It's possible that the Twins may find that the offers from Boston and the Yankees are not acceptable, and decide, ultimately, to keep Santana. But executives involved in the trade talks fully expect that the Twins will trade Santana, and that they will make a decision within the next 72 hours on what offer they prefer. If either the Yankees or the Red Sox were to pull out of negotiations, the Twins' leverage would be greatly diminished.
If the Twins do agree to a tentative deal, Santana must still agree to waive his no-trade clause, and in order to do that, Santana likely will ask for a six-year extension worth something in the range of a $150 million; he would become the first pitcher ever to sign for a multiyear deal for at least $20 million a year.
The Mets, Mariners, Dodgers and Angels are among the other teams with which the Twins have talked about Santana.
Rex Actry is a senior baseball writer for ESPN The Magazine.
