Courtesy of Global Mets contributor Zac Wassink... cross posted at Associated Content

The New York Mets suffered a historic collapse in the 2007 regular season. They may now be the favorite to win the National League in 2008.

Reports around the country indicate that the Minnesota Twins have traded ace pitcher and two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana to the New York Mets for four prospects.

ESPN.com and several other websites state that the Twins will receive outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitching prospects Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. Completion of the deal is pending Santana passing a team physical as well as the Mets signing Santana to a contract extension. ESPN.com reports that the deadline for the Mets and Santana to agree upon a deal is 5 p.m. on Friday. It is believed that Santana is seeking a six or seven year deal worth anywhere between $140 and $150 million.

Just as important as acquiring Santana for the Mets is the fact that the team did not have to add 19-year old prospect Fernando Martinez in the deal. Baseball America named Martinez the number one prospect in the Mets' farm system in 2007.

The addition of Johan Santana gives the Mets arguably the best pitching rotation in the National League and without question one of the best in all of Major League Baseball. New York now could have a stating pitching rotation of Santana, Pedro Martinez, Oliver Perez, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey, Orlando Hernandez or a possible free agent pickup. This rotation along with an above average bullpen and one of the best offenses in the National League make the 2008 New York Mets once again the favorite to win the National League East.

Santana, who will turn 29 before Opening Day, had somewhat of a down year in 2007. He finished with a record of 15-13 and an ERA of 3.33. 2007 was the first time Santana finished with an ERA over three since the 2003 season. Nevertheless, Santana still had a WHIP of 1.07 and struck out 235 batters last season. He struck out an average of over nine and a half (9.66) batters per nine innings and opposing hitters had a batting average of .225 against the dominant southpaw.

The New York Mets were searching for an upgrade such as this after the disappointment that was the 2007 regular season. The Mets were picked by many to win the NL East with ease and the team held a seven game lead in the division with only 17 games to play. However, the Mets were swept twice by the Philadelphia Phillies in the last month of the regular season and eventually relinquished the division lead to the Phillies. Philadelphia went on to win the division and the Mets failed to make the playoffs.
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A number of different sites are reporting that the Mets may have moved into the driver's seat in the Johan Santana sweepstakes. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported last night that the Twins are interested in the Mets recent offer for Santana.

The Mets' original offer included Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phillip Humber. The Twins however were interested in Fernando Martinez as well, whom they stated could "seal the deal". The Mets seem prepared to offer Martinez in addition to the above mentioned prospects.

Metsblog is also reporting that Mets owner Fred Wilpon is willing to meet Santana's contract demands if a deal can be made.

This coupled with the Yankees announcement that they are no longer pursuing Santana, makes the mets the most likely team for Santana in 2008.

This is probably the closest the Mets have ever been to landing Santana. Keep your fingers crossed.
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A few weeks ago over at the facebook group I asked the question; what should the Mets do if we don't acquire another starting pitcher this off season? My solution to this potential problem was to resurrect an old idea; one which would allow the Mets to solidify the rotation with a young veteran pitcher and strengthen the bullpen with two proven relievers, all without having to sacrifice the farm... IMPOSSIBLE you say?

START HEILMAN!!!!!
(you read correctly)

Heilman can be the 5th starter behind Pedro, El Duque, Maine and Perez, and Mike Pelfrey can fill in for ElDuque if and when he finds himself on the DL.

Now here's the key to this plan...

Then, we turn around and trade prospects for established relievers, who can be had for much less than established starters.

My suggestion was the trade Phillip Humber, Mike Carp and Kevin Mulvey to the Nationals for Chad Cordero and Jon Rauch. However some other trade or combination of trades should be able to accomplish a similar goal, which in this case is to acquire two proven relievers for a few prospects not named Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez or Mike Pelfrey.

BUT WAIT... Heilman is too valuable to the bullpen... I've always hated that statement, probably because it tries to argue that relief pitching is more important that starting pitching, which, is a ridiculous argument to begin with, if that were true, how do you explain Carlos Silva making more than Billy Wagner in 2008? Although that one boggles my mind as well.

Heilman's importance to the bullpen is certainly outweighed by his potential importance to the rotation. Moving Heilman to the rotation not only strengthens the rotation, but it also allows the Mets to strengthen the bullpen as well. If the rotation is completed with Heilman, the Mets' prospects can be traded towards strengthening the bullpen, not to mention it will allow them to put Pelfrey in the bullpen as well.

WELL... putting Heilman in the rotation doesn't solve the rotation's problems... Well I agree partially, having Heilman in there isn't equal to having Johan Santana in there, but with the Twins asking for Jose Reyes... I say having Ruben Gotay at short isn't exactly equal to having Reyes either. Let's assume for the moment that we are unable to land an ace by spring training, why should we have Mike Pelfrey and Phillip Humber competing for the 5th spot, and have Heilman trapped in the bullpen when instead we could have an improved bullpen (by trading Humber, Mulvey and Carp), and have Mike Pelfrey and Aaron Heilman compete for the 5th spot? Heilman is certainly a better option than Humber, who has a grand total of 9 career innings pitched in the major leagues. Heilman is a much better pitcher now than he was when he first came up 5 years ago, and up until he was first moved to the bullpen in 2005 he had been a starting pitcher his entire career. His fastball and change up are above average, and he has one of the best change ups in the game, so, someone tell me why don't we do this?
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A number of sources are reporting that the Mets are close to a deal that would send Phillip Humber, Aaron Heilman, Ryan Church, and possibly Kevin Mulvey to the Orioles for starting pitcher Erik Bedard.

Meanwhile, over at Metsblog Matt Cerrone is reporting that the deal may involve a third team and Orioles' SS Miguel Tejada. This report is unconfirmed as well.

Remember this is just speculation, but a deal does seem close. This would be a fabulous trade for the Mets if they can manage to get the 28 year old Bedard without giving up Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez.

This deal may go down tonight, tomorrow, the next day or maybe not at all. It is kinda hard to imagine the Orioles will do anything with Bedard until after the Twins decide what to do with Johan Santana. But be sure to keep checking back as we will have more information as this story unfolds.

UPDATE: The report that suggested Erik Bedard is on his way to the Mets is "false," according to one executive with the Mets. However, talks are ongoing.

Looks like we may have jumped the gun with this one... thanks to mlb-rumors for clarifying that earlier post.
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