Santana to the Mets?

MLBTR

Not exactly a done deal yet, with the Mets still having to work out a contract extension in order for Johan to officially waive his NTC.

HT: to Liza and Matzushocka for beating me to the punch in the diaries.

Makes it more likely that the Coco/Ellsbury situation will be resolved soon, as well as an overlooked (and thusfar) non-story, that being whether Julian Tavarez will be starting for an NL team or not.

[Update by SoxDevil:]

The tentative deal for Johan Santana is Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey. I know Gomez is supposed to be excellent and Humber pretty good himself, but how is this deal better than either of the two the Red Sox offered? Can an enlightened OTM'er provide some insight on the Mets prospects dealt?

In my opinion Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Justin Masterson, and Jed Lowrie would have solved immediate and future needs for Minnesota. If the Twinkies were going to give up and rebuild from the ground up, why re-sign Mauer and Morneau? Even if Lester was off the table as occasionally rumored, a package consisting of Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Masterson, and Jed Lowrie (maybe with Ryan Kalish thrown in for good measure) still seems at least as good as the Mets deal. There are fewer pitchers, but the Twin's farm teams have some pretty good talent coming up. Do you think it comes down to the fact that the Red Sox simply didn't want to bankroll Johan when all was said and done?

Despite all the ranting and raving from the New York Yankees and their fans, I never thought any of their packages matched the Sox' for talent.

While I'm happy that Johan is going to the Mets instead of the Yankees, I'm somewhat disappointed that he won't be wearing a Red Sox uniform to be part of one of the most dominant rotations in MLB history. The only issue I see the Red Sox having in the near future is the inevitable departure/decline of Manny Ramirez's production (through trade, free agency, or age) and that's not a problem that any of the players mentioned in the Red Sox packages would fix. I suppose that goes for Papi as well in several years. We're spoiled right now and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the Red Sox could be in the Angels' shoes in a few years: good pitching, punch-less lineup. That's why I supported the Santana trade. Win more now!