Plus, that lineup is pretty scary. Four out of the 5 players at the top are pretty much guaranteed to hit over .300, with Manny being able to hit really well anyway. Then you have Drew, who I really think will have a better year this year; Youk, who is just awesome; 'Tek, whose knees seem to be made of iron; and Lugo, who... well, maybe he'll do better this year too.

And the lineup goes lefty, righty, lefty, righty, righty, lefty, righty, switch, righty. That'll be fun...

We have to look at this from the Twins' point of view.

They get a CF without much offensive production.  A young lefty with control issues, who always manages to get his pitch count to around 100 by the end of the 5th inning (and has put up very average ML stats), and two unproven minor league prospects.

They give up Johan Santana
Johan friggen Santana people.

If I were the Twins, I would never make this deal.  It would definetly take Jacoby or Buccholz/ Joba or Hughes, plus a lot of high value prospects

This is just a fact and probably why Lester has +4.00 era.

Johan will be a major help on the road.

He has 2 change ups, 2 fastballs and a slider and most batters cannot tell what he is throwing until its in the glove.

Johan Santana and Roy Halladay have an argument for the filthiest pitchers from the past 10 years.

If this is all the MFY have to offer, someone start sizing up the new Sox unis for our new man Johan.

Twins want the most they can get, Yankees will have to give up one of their "precious" Hughes or Jaba to get Santana.

Actually, I think this is probably already out there.

If the Sox get Santana, the Yankees next five seasons are OVER.  Start rebuilding.

The Yankees future depends on getting Santana to match Beckett, which in the playoffs still is not enough.

Funny thing is if we don't make this trade, we still have all those great young players and a cf we can trade for catching and middle relief.

As to his quality level: in 2007, we see a bit of a drop off in giving up HRs and a slightly higher ERA for him than his previous three years.  But his WHIP was excellent - better than anybody not named Peavy, and Peavy was only ahead by 1.06 to 1.07.  To put this in perspective, Sabathia and Beckett both had WHIPs at 1.14.  I thought Santana was one of the best pitchers in the AL last year and was a bit surprised he didn't get more love in the Cy Young voting.  

It's worth saying that Josh Beckett got nearly 1.5 runs/game more in run support than Santana did.  Santana on the Sox would probably win 20 games by Labor Day.  Peavy is his only competition for the title of "best pitcher in baseball".    

I can't see us trading Youk - that'd leave us with a huge hole at 1st, and no good options to fill it. Maybe if you guys threw in Morneau... (joking)

I'd love to see the Twins make a run at it with Johan. Both he and you fans deserve it. And I'm sure both Johan and the players union would love an all out budding war next off-season. My only concern is whether you guys have enough offense to make a good run. But if Delmon develops like he's supposed to...

If Liriano comes back healthy, and Santana + Nathan are held, then the Twins can certainly compete next year. However, barring major improvement from Delmon Young, I don't see them making it past the Tigers and Indians. Both those teams have excellent pitching and superb offenses, so it would take some luck on the part of the Twins to compete effectively with them. I think dealing Santana and Nathan now is the best move for long-term success.

I expect Crisp to bounce back if he goes to the AL Central. His career numbers are good against Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago (not so much against Kansas, inexplicably). A wrinkle in this is his poor career showing at the Metrodome (.222  .261.292). Crisp's best value is his defense, which became otherworldly this year.

The only NL teams with the prospects and cash to get Santana are the Mets and Dodgers. Minaya doesn't seem keen on parting with Reyes or Wright for Santana, so I don't see them in the mix. The Dodgers have a better chance, and if they want him their talent can beat any other team's offer; however, they need offense more than pitching. The Yankees / Sox look like the best bet for now.

If I were a Twins fan, I'd look for a Crisp/Buchholz/others package. Lester has poor command and is often lucky to make it through 5 innings at 100 pitches. That said, if he masters his control, as happened in the WS game, then he can definitely be an ace pitcher. Ellsbury is overhyped, and the difference between him and Crisp is not as large as people think. Buchholz is a polished, big-league pitcher

As a Sox fan, I don't like the Lester, Youk, Crisp, Lowrie package for Santana, Rincon. I have no interest in Rincon, who regressed immensely last year (5.13 era). The Sox are unlikely to replace Youkilis' production or defense at 1B, and would need much more value to trade him (Neshek at least).

The low-cost contract is certainly appealing. But Santana is the best pitcher in baseball, righty or lefty.

Theo most likely never was really serious about Santana bc of the contract demands.

Dan Haren is the target, if I could bet on it in Vegas.  

6+ years at $20-25 million is not how the Sox are doing business these days.

If the Yanks get Santana, thats potentially $50 million for 2 players.

Also why pay Johan $20 million when you can go out and trade for a guy who will post very similar numbers, Haren, Bedard or Kazmir, and cost you so much less...which would not piss off your ace Josh Beckett.

First, there's no way the Sox will trade Buchholz (nor should they).  He is a legit top-of-the-rotation prospect, and as such is more valuable than anyone they have (including Ellsbury).  

Secondly, everything I've read seems to imply that Lowrie projects to be more of a second baseman than shortstop.  I'm sure the Twins know that.  As a second baseman, Lowrie is blocked by PedROYa.  He has value as trade bait, but will likely never play for the Sox.  

I believe the Sox should hold firm to their offer.  The Twins are over a barrel.  They have a cheap billionaire owner who won't pay Santana, so they have to make a deal.  Only two teams are in the race.  Minnesota is playing this for all it's worth, which is what they should do.  But the Sox' offer is fair (about 70 cents on the dollar), and they shouldn't keep throwing players into the deal just because the MFY are the other team.  If Minnesota doesn't like the Sox' offer, Theo and company should turn their efforts toward acquiring Dan Haren.

Finally, while Santana is a great pitcher, there is some downside to getting him (assuming he'll waive his no-trade and come to Boston).  He'll cost $20+ million and want at least six years.  That will not only limit the Sox' payroll flexibility, it will set a bad precedent because Boston will have to overpay Josh Beckett to keep him.