Boston Says Mets Lead For Santana

With Yankees, Red Sox and Mets columnists coming to a current consensus on the Johan Santana trade front, the question remains, can the Mets close a deal? At one point or another all three teams "led" the race to acquire the lefty, and yet the lead did not last long enough.

Today's Boston Herald article brings some new names to the table, including recent addition Ryan Church and pitching prospect Mike Pelfrey. From the column:

The Mets, and not the Red Sox or Yankees, remain the front-runner as the team most likely to succeed in pulling off a trade for Minnesota ace Johan Santana, according to baseball insiders in touch with both the Mets and Twins in recent days.

A package the Twins could receive will probably not include both of the Mets’ top outfield prospects, Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. There are indications that Martinez would be in the deal, along with major league outfielder Ryan Church and at least two other prospects. Starter Mike Pelfrey could be part of the deal as well. . . .

In another story, David Wright told the AP that the Mets don't need Santana to succeed next season. Wright had some diplomatic answers regarding the conclusion to last year's season as well. From the Bergen Record article:

Wright is convinced that the Mets have the pieces to recapture the National League East title. But he wouldn't mind if Johan Santana was brought in to aid that effort.

"I agree 100 percent with Omar [Minaya]," Wright said. "If it's the right price, 30 teams would want him. You don't want to give up the farm system. I've faced Johan. I know how nasty he is."

"Just because we haven't made any changes doesn't mean that we aren't going to come in and be better individually," he said. "The answer isn't free agency. The answer isn't making these big trades. It's looking inside.

"Everybody has a bitter taste in their mouths and I think that's a good thing."