Trade Tree: Johan Santana

I started throwing this together after Philip Humber‘s perfect game a few weeks ago and since the Pirates faced Johan Santana last night it seemed like a good time to bring it out. If people like it I can keep doing Trade Trees for players and teams other than the Pirates.

The 2007 Twins were at a crossroads, one several teams had known before and others would see again. Their ace pitcher, the best pitcher in baseball at the time, was going to be a free agent after the next season. They had been unable to agree with him on a contract extension. It was time to talk trade. The Yankees offered Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes and other prospects. The Red Sox offered Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie, and Justin Masterson. The Mets were able to get the deal done with this offer:

A sturdy pack of prospects, but nothing too exciting. What have the Twins done with those players though? That’s an interesting tale to be sure:

Branden Harris ties Johan’s trade tree to that of Chuck Knoblauch, meaning a good chunk of the last two decades of Twins history is listed here. All told, The Twins started with four players (three draft picks and one Rule 5 pick) and turned them into twenty-two players, four of which are still in their organization. In between they had six outstanding season of Johan, seven good years from Knoblauch, and several seasons of supporting work from the other 24 players listed. It’s a mixed bag of results in all of the individual deals, but you can say that about any team’s transactions. These deals helped the Twins to nine winning seasons and six playoff appearances.