Polls Closed: Much Ado About Johan

A recent poll asked BL visitors to put their GM caps on and decide how they'd approach the Johan Santana situation had Boston never gotten involved. The votes are in and the results are overwhelmingly supportive of the Yankees young arms - specifically Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes.

With 77% of voters choosing to a) pursue Santana as a free agent or b) keep Hughes/Chamberlain at all costs, the consensus is clear. Yankees fans want to improve their team, but refuse to surrender their top two pitching prospects in the process.

Obviously, Chamberlain had been deemed "untouchable" early on in the Santana sweepstakes. However, the unexpected inclusion of Hughes brought the Yankees universe to an abrupt halt, spurring a fanbase obsessed with winning to quickly voice their desire to protect the future as opposed to the recent strategy of selling it.

Even Hank Steinbrenner recognized the fanbase's stubbornness when it came to including Hughes in a trade, regardless of what megastar came in return.

At 11%, the third most popular choice amongst voters asked the Yankees to "let an NL team get [Santana]." This segment of voters represents another change of pace as Yankee fans are willing to let their crosstown rivals reap the rewards of a Santana swap as long as it means Hughes is safe and Johan is far from Beantown.

The least popular response from voters - at a mere 10% - represents the small population of Yankees fans who are willing to trade 21 year-old Hughes for the Minnesota ace. By no means do I fault this segment of Yankee fans for wanting to acquire arguably the best pitcher in baseball.

However, the voters on this site, and on countless other polls around the internet, speaks to the overwhelming majority of bombers fans who believe Boston's involvement is transparent; and that the best strategy calls for Brian Cashman to pursue Santana if he becomes a free agent next offseason.

Considering the three most popular responses urge the Yankees front office to either let the Mets get Santana, sign him in the offseason and refuse to give up Hughes or Chamberlain, that means 88% of BL visitors are against pursuing a trade for Johan Santana. If you've spent one day in New York City, that's about as much agreement as you'll find in the big apple.

* Please take part in the new poll and let me know how you would use Joba Chamberlain in 2008.