All I hear is people bashing Omar Minaya for signing Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo to contracts they probably didn’t deserve. But where is all the praise for the positive additions that he has made happen?
I bring this up because yesterday Philip Humber of the Kansas City Royals won his first MLB game.
Humber, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra were the four minor league prospects that were traded to the Twins for Mets ace Johan Santana. Looking back at this trade three years later, it’s obvious that Minaya committed an act of highway robbery.
Out of the four players Carlos Gomez has had the most MLB playing time. He is a pretty solid fielder and has a lot of speed, but he can’t hit a lick. He has never had an OBP over .300, lacks any power, and has a career .242 BA in almost 1,300 ABs.
Philip Humber, on the other hand, hasn’t had an extended chance at the Major League level to prove himself. Maybe that is because he has a 4.48 career ERA in the minors. At 27, this former third overall pick has little chance of amounting to anything at the Major League level.
Like Humber, Kevin Mulvey hasn’t got much of a chance at the Major League level. In 27+ innings pitched, he has recorded a 7.90 ERA with the Twins and Diamondbacks. He was the weakest of the four players of the trade, and at 25 his future isn’t promising.
Deolis Guerra is the only player involved in the trade that is still with the Twins organization. At 21 years old he still has plenty of upside, just like when the Mets traded him three years ago. He has struggled at the higher minor league levels, posting a roughly 6.00 ERA in AA and AAA combined.
Looking at where these players are now, the Twins actually have nothing to show for one of the best pitchers in baseball.
They would have been better off letting him go in free agency and receiving the two compensatory picks, since he would have been a Class A free agent. That is the thing, when you trade a proven player like Santana for prospects—you never know what you are getting in return. It ends up being a total crap shoot.
In the end, Minaya was able to obtain a top 10 pitcher in baseball for what looks to be a bunch of minor league talent.
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