Johan Santana Is The A-Rod Of Pitching; Now He Wants To Be Paid Like Him

Minnesota Twins pitcher Johan Santana probably won’t be in the Twin Cities much longer. He’s already turned down their four-year, $80 million offer, which when you consider the Giants gave Barry Zito a $126 million contract less than a year ago, just makes sense. So obviously talks have opened up with the only teams able to pay him like that-the Yankees and Red Sox. But it may seem that the big money Yanks are balking at the idea. Why? Because pitchers get injured.

“From the earliest days of Walter Johnson until now, there’s nothing more valuable in baseball than top starting pitchers,” said Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ senior vice president. “However, you’ve got to balance that with the potential for an injury. If it wasn’t for the injuries, the top pitchers would get more money than anyone. Even more than A-Rod.”

This from a team who was about to play $40 million plus to get just the rights to talk to Dice-K, and once gave the oft-injured Kevin Brown $105 million. Yeah, why not secure the best pitcher in baseball over the past five seasons to save your crappy rotation? That would only make too much sense for a Steinbrenner.
Top Prospects Merely a Down Payment on Santana [NY Times]
Image [johansantana.net]