Johan Santana took the mound Sunday afternoon and helped pitch his way into what could be the biggest contract ever for a starting pitcher in 2009. Santana went 8.0 innings giving up only 2 hits and striking out 17 in the best pitching performance by a starter since Ben Sheets struck out 18 in 2004.
Already owning 2 Cy Young awards, Santana will make $12 Million this year and $13.125 in 2008. With Zambrano signing a new extension this week with the Cubs for $18M/yr, Santana will likely demand $20M/yr when he becomes a free agent after 2008. Because Santana finished in the top 3 for the Cy Young his contract now kicks in a no trade clause.
As a Twins fan, it would be nice to see Ryan try to wrap Santana up with an extension before the season ends. But as a small market team, it would be interesting to see how many pitchers/hitters/prospects the Twins could receive in a trade, assuming Santana approves. Would a couple 30+ HR hitting outfielders for $8M/yr each give the team more in the long run than one Santana every 5 days?
In the right ballpark, surrounded by the right team, Santana could win 2 more Cy Young’s and flirt with 4,000 strikeouts.
1 response so far ↓
1 Ric // Aug 23, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Was at the game…it was pretty awesome. Best pitching performance I’ll probably ever see in my life. Everyone was cheering to let Gardy let him come out for the 9th.
He’s a sick pitcher, hope we can extend him for a few more years.
Leave a Comment