Ramblings

* The Denver Post speculates that Yorvit Torrealba’s shoulder problems made the 3-year $14.4M deal with the Mets fall through. Now that the Mets are out of it, the Marlins are also getting pretty close to backing out, citing that if they sign Yorvit for what the Mets offered, he would be their second highest-paid player.
* It seems like the New York Yankees have made a 3-year deal worth $30M to Francisco Cordero, who would serve as the closer if and only if Mariano Rivera does not re-sign with the club. Cordero is much younger and would make a lot more sense for the aging Yankees to sign, but hey its Mariano Rivera.
* The Star-Tribune is reporting that the Minnesota Twins have offered ace Johan Santana a 5-year deal worth $93M. If this is the case, Johan would become the game’s highest paid pitcher, slight ahead of Barry Zito’s 7-year deal. The Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees have had the most interest in Johan.
* Royals’ outfielder Reggie Sanders has made it clear that he will retire next season unless a west-coast team makes an offer. He would also prefer going back to the National League. The Giants and Padres could use a veteran 5th outfielder. dismantled. (MVN.com)

Johan Package May Be Centered On Cano

"Ken Davidoff of Newsday.com reports that “a person familiar with Minnesota’s operations” believes that if the Yankees were seriously going to make a run at south-paw Johan Santana, New York second baseman Robinson Cano would have to be the centerpiece of the package. Makes a lot of sense for Minnesota, as they have a hole at 2B after trading Luis Castillo to the New York Mets on July 31st.

Robinson hit a cool .306 last year, with 19 HR and 97 RBI. His OBP sat a very good .353, and he only struck-out 85 times in 617 at-bats. The Yankees are rumored to have offered Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and another prospect for Santana, but the Twins easily turned that down. If Johan is ever to get traded, the Twins will no doubt get a very young all-star caliber player and a few amazing prospect arms." (MVN.com)

Scott Kazmir May Be Available

Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will indeed dangle ace Scott Kazmir and listen to offers. The left-hander is still 3 years away from free-agency, and 2 years of Kazmir has gotta be as good as 1 year of Johan.

I can't see Tampa making this deal as Scott's been lights out and is only 24-years old. If a major deal is thrown at them, however, why not entertain it?

Sherman also writes that the Devil-Rays have made only B.J. Upton untouchable, allowing outfielders Carl Crawford and Delmon Young to be traded. Seems like Tim Lincecum for Carl Crawford may make sense for the Giants, but they still need more specs in the package.

Carlos Silva Wants Four Years

Charley Walters of TwinCities.com (registration required) noted that the Minnesota Twins made a 3-year contract offer to starter Carlos Silva worth up to $7M per year, and he turned it down. Silva told the Twin's organization that he would need a 4-year deal, noting that Gil Meche and Kei Igawa received 4-year deals last year.

Silva was 13-14 this year with a 4.19 ERA, after bouncing back from a horrible '06 campaign. If Silva is re-signed by the club, it only raises their payroll higher and puts even more pressure on them making a Johan Santana trade.

Hunter Will Accept 5/$75M

Star Tribune's Sid Hartman believes that if the Twins would offer a 5-year contract to Torii Hunter worth $75M, he would gladly sign. He's already told the media that he would like to play at new Twin's stadium for more than one year. The stadium is set to open in 2010. He also believes that if the Twins will backload Hunter's deal and trade Johan Santana for a stud young 3B, DH, and SP, they will have plenty of money to work with. The backload makes a lot of sense as Carlos Silva's deal would come off the books after next season.

If Hunter hits the open market, you can expect the Twins to have a hard time selling tickets without their fan-favorite center-fielder. Hartman goes on saying that Twins fans would rather sign Hunter and trade Johan than just let Hunter go to sign Johan. Seems like Johan's time in Minnesota might be over.