johan santana

Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner publicly acknowledged yesterday that the Yankees are involved in trade discussions with the Twins for ace Johan Santana.

Those talks began before Thanksgiving, as Newsday reported Saturday. Steinbrenner said in a phone interview yesterday that there was "nothing new on Santana" but that general manager Brian Cashman is engaged in discussions with the Twins regarding the lefthander.

That's not the only thing on the Yankees' plate. They have talked internally about trying to trade for the Athletics' Dan Haren and are working to upgrade their bullpen via free agency. "We need to shore up the bullpen, I would say for sure," Steinbrenner said.



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Upgrading the starting rotation, Steinbrenner said, is not an absolute must. But Santana, 28, is perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, and in a different class from any other pitcher potentially available. He is 93-44 in his career with a 3.22 ERA and two Cy Young Awards to his name.

Santana, who is represented by agent Peter Greenberg, recently turned down a four-year, $80-million contract extension from the Twins. He is set to become a free agent after the 2008 season, so teams don't want to give up a fortune in prospects/young talent now, then have to pay Santana a fortune to keep him long-term. But the Twins want premium talent in order to forfeit having Santana pitch for them in 2008.

Asked about specific players who might be part of trade talks for Santana, Steinbrenner said, "I don't really want to get into that."

However, a few players believed to interest the Twins are righthanders Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, second baseman Robinson Cano, centerfielder Melky Cabrera and perhaps minor-league outfielders Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata. But the Yankees have worked hard to upgrade their farm system and want to hold on to as much of that young talent as possible.

Santana is a special case, though. One source said yesterday that none of the above players would be off-limits in the right deal for Santana. Another source indicated that the Yankees plan to cling hardest to Chamberlain and Cano but that the others might be negotiable. The Twins need a centerfielder, as Torii Hunter signed with the Angels via free agency last week.

The Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets also are expected to be suitors for Santana. He has a no-trade clause and can veto any trade, but someone close to Santana said he would waive that clause for the Yankees.

Steinbrenner said talks still are in the early stages. He expects them to heat up by next week's winter meetings in Nashville, meetings that Steinbrenner said he might attend.

Cashman and Greenberg did not return phone
Johan Santana
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Johan Santana

Minnesota Twins ― No. 57
Starting Pitcher
Born: March 13, 1979 (1979-03-13) (age 28)
Bats: Left Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
April 3, 2000 for the Minnesota Twins
Selected MLB statistics
(through 2007 season)
Wins-Losses 93-44
Earned Run Average 3.22
Strikeouts 1,381
Teams
Minnesota Twins (2000-present)

Johan Alexander Santana Araque (born March 13, 1979) is a Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher who plays for the Minnesota Twins. He is a 2-time American League Cy Young Award winner (both Unanimous selections).

Contents
1 Early life
2 Professional career
2.1 2004 season
2.2 2005 season
2.3 2006 Season
2.4 2007 Season
3 Career statistics
3.1 Legend
4 Highlights
5 See also
6 External links
7 References



[edit] Early life
Santana was born in Tovar, Mérida State, Venezuela and attended Jordan High School, where he played baseball and soccer.


[edit] Professional career
Santana was signed by the Houston Astros as an undrafted free agent in 1995 but remained in Venezuela, where he was named the Tovar Mérida Athlete of the Year in 1999. Later that year, he was selected by the Florida Marlins from Houston in the 1999 Rule 5 draft and then traded to the Minnesota Twins for minor leaguer Jared Camp. Santana made his Major League debut with the Twins on April 3, 2000, coming from the bullpen vs. Tampa Bay. He made his first MLB start on April 7, 2000, at Kansas City and recorded his first Major League win in a relief appearance at Houston on June 6. He put up a 6.49 ERA in 86 innings pitched in 2000, his rookie year. Santana and his wife, Yasmile, have two daughters, Jasmily & Jasmine.

Santana is tough on both right-handed and left-handed hitters. He works quickly and throws a 91-95 mph fastball, a hard slider (which he has worked into a slurve), and a tailing changeup that is considered one of best changeups in baseball.[1] His pitches are too close to take, but difficult to drive, causing batters to lunge after balls that are down and out of the strike zone.[citation needed] He consistently works to eliminate the difference in his throwing motions, making it very difficult for opposing batters to guess which pitch he's throwing. Santana also has very good control, as evidenced by his 52 walks in 219 innings in 2007[1]. Santana was used as a long reliever early in his career after finding little success as a starter. In 2003, Santana transitioned from relief to the Twins' starting rotation after spending the first four months of the season in the bullpen. He won his last eight decisions and pitched the ALDS opening game against the Yankees.


[edit] 2004 season
In 2004, Santana enjoyed one of the great second halves of modern times. He became the first pitcher since 1961 to give up four or fewer hits in ten straight starts, and his 13-0 record broke the old Major League second-half mark shared between Burt Hooton and Rick Sutcliffe.

Santana's other second-half numbers were equally impressive: 11.13 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.21 ERA, 4.74 hits per nine innings, and 6.73 baserunners per nine innings. In addition, Santana set a team season record with 265 strikeouts, surpassing the old 258 mark registered by Bert Blyleven in 1973.

Santana finished in good form with a 20-6 record and led the American League in strikeouts (265), ERA (2.61), strikeouts per nine innings pitched (10.46), WHIP (0.92), batting average allowed (.192), OBP (.249), SLG (.315), and OPS (.564) and walked only 54 batters in 228 innings. Opponents stole just six bases in seven attempts against him, and his 20 victories ranked him second behind only Curt Schilling, who won 21 games for the Red Sox. He easily won the AL Cy Young Award over Schilling with all 28 first-place votes.


[edit] 2005 season
Santana struggled in his first outing of 2005, giving up four runs in the first inning, but quickly regained his composure and returned to Cy Young-winning form in an 8-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners. In his second game, he rocked the Chicago White Sox with 11 strikeouts as the Twins won 5-2. Following a brief slump in May 2005, Santana worked on improving his pitching form and was immediately rewarded with a seven-inning, two-run outing against the Toronto Blue Jays, which the Twins won 7-2. Santana finished with an ERA of 2.87, second lowest in the American League behind Indians pitcher Kevin Millwood (2.86). However, the weak Twins club of the 2005 season cost him several otherwise-winnable games, and his winning percentage fell considerably in his second full year as a starter. He threw 238 strikeouts during the season, leading the majors. He finished third in the Cy Young voting, finishing behind winner Bartolo Colón of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera.


[edit] 2006 Season
Santana won the Major League pitching Triple Crown, the first person to do so in the American League since Pedro Martinez in 1999 (Jake Peavy in 2007 was the last to win the Triple Crown for the National League). He completed the season leading the majors in ERA (2.77) and strikeouts (245), and tied Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang in wins (19). He is the first pitcher to win the triple crown with fewer than 20 wins, and the first to win the MLB triple crown with an ERA above 2.60.

Santana also led the American League in WHIP (1.0), opposing batting average (.216), and innings pitched (233.6). He continued to add to his reputation as a great second-half pitcher, losing only one game after the All-Star break while winning 10 and posting a 2.54 ERA. A brief slump cost him the opportunity to make his 20th win of the season. No pitcher in Major League Baseball won 20 games in the 2006 season, the first time in modern major league history this occurred in a non-shortened season.

Santana won his second Cy Young Award in 2006, becoming the 14th player in MLB history to win the award multiple times. He is the fifth pitcher to win the award by a unanimous vote twice, joining Roger Clemens, Pedro Martínez, and Greg Maddux; Sandy Koufax accomplished the feat three times.

From 2004-2006, Santana has led the league in strikeouts all three years, in ERA twice, and has also led in several other key statistical areas. In that three-year span, he has compiled a 55-19 record with an ERA of 2.75 and WHIP of 0.96, while striking out 748 batters.


[edit] 2007 Season
After starting the season slow, and his record falling to 6-6 at one point, Johan jumpstarted his season with a four-hit shutout, followed by two wins. On July 1, 2007, Santana was named as a member of the 2007 MLB All-Star Game, his third straight appearance.

The worst career night for Santana came on July 23, 2007 in Toronto against the Blue Jays as he allowed four home runs in four innings.

Santana had perhaps his best career game on August 19th against the Texas Rangers, in which he set down 17 Texas batters by means of a strikeout in eight innings. The 17 Strikeouts in a game is a current Twins record. Santana walked none, and allowed only two hits, both to Sammy Sosa.

While Santana did not have a bad season, he led the major leagues in home runs given up (33) and had the most losses of his career (13). Santana finished the season with only 15 wins, his lowest total since 2003, though he led the American League in WHIP, was 2nd in strikeouts with 235, and 7th in ERA. On the last game of the season, a rain delay in Detroit that lasted over an hour caused Santana to pitch only three innings, ending a 123-start streak where he pitched five innings or more, which was the third longest in the past half century.

In November, it was announced that Santana was awarded the American League Gold Glove Award for pitcher. This was the first time he was selected for this award.[2]

On November 26, 2007, the New York Yankees started to discuss trades for Johan including the trade of Ian Kennedy or Phil Hughes.[3]