The Johan Santana situation seems very fluid right now in Nashville. I wouldn’t rule out the Yankees, but most of the buzz is centered on the Red Sox.

From the Boston Herald blog:

The Red Sox and Twins will resume “serious negotiations’’ later this morning as they close in on a blockbuster deal that would bring ace Johan Santana to the Red Sox, according to a baseball source involved in the negotiations.

The package of players the Twins receive is still in flux and there are two packages under discussion, with still varying mixes of players in each. The first is left-hander Jon Lester and center fielder Coco Crisp, the other is headed by center field prospect Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Red Sox have successfully held the line on not including Ellsbury in a package with either Lester or Clay Buccholz, their other top starter.

The names, in some combo, minus one or two, include starter Justin Masterson and shortstop Jed Lowrie.

So it sounds like it’s either a 4-for-1 deal: Lester, Crisp, Masterson and Lowrie. Or a 3-for-1 deal: Ellsbury, Masterson, Lowrie.

For a closer look at these players, check out SoxProspects.com, which ranks Boston’s top prospects as following:

1. Clay Buchholz
2. Jacoby Ellsbury
3. Justin Masterson
4. Jed Lowrie

Note, Lester is not on that list, as he is now entrenched in the big leagues and pitched the Red Sox to a win in Game 4 of the World Series. Since you’ve heard about the rest, here are thumbnails on Lowrie and Masterson:

Jed Lowrie
Pos: SS
Level: Class AAA
Age: 23 (turns 24 on April 17)
Height: 6-0
Drafted: First round, 2005, out of Stanford
Honors: He was named Boston’s 2007 minor-league offensive player of the year.
Notable: He batted just .163 in the recently completed Arizona Fall League, but otherwise, he has been a good hitting prospect with 47 doubles last season. He spent most of 2007 at Class AA, batting .297 (with a .410 on-base percentage, .501 slugging percentage, .911 on-base-plus-slugging percentage). In 40 games at Class AAA Pawtucket, he batted .300 with a .356 OBP, .506 SLG, and .862 OPS. He is seen as an intelligent shortstop, with average range, a strong arm that needs work on his accuracy. The web site sees a comparison to Carlos Guillen.

Justin Masterson
Pos: RHP
Level: Class AA
Age: 22 (turns 23 on March 22)
Height: 6-6
Drafted: 2006 second rounder out of San Diego State
Notable: He dominated the Cape Cod League in 2005. He throws a heavy sinker, 84-94 mph, and draws comparisons to Derek Lowe. He split last season between Class A and Class AA, going 12-8 with a 4.33 ERA in 27 starts. He pitched 153 2/3 innings with a 115-to-40 strikeout to walk ratio. He also gave up 152 hits, a high ratio which is not uncommon for sinkerballers.

MY TAKE
None of these Boston prospects, including Ellsbury, has the superstar potential of the Yankees’ Phil Hughes, in my opinion. I thought the Twins were on the right track asking for Hughes, Melky Cabrera and one more top prospect.

At first glance, the Boston packages seem to be more about quantity than quality. Not saying the Red Sox prospects aren’t quality. They are, but the packages don’t have the marquee star of the Yankees’ deals, they just fill more needs for the Twins.

I need to do more research, but Crisp or Ellsbury steps right in and plays center field for the Twins next year, batting leadoff. Ellsbury has the higher upside, obviously, but Crisp was a good player for Cleveland in 2005 who could just need a change of scenery.

Lowrie looks like he could be ready to take over shortstop duties by midseason. Masterson sounds like he could be ready to pitch in the big leagues by late 2008 or early 2009, and when he gets there, he should be good.

Lester would step right into the Twins’ rotation, replacing Santana. I think he’s a potential All-Star eventually, but not with the same ceiling as Hughes or Buchholz.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 11:18 am and is filed under Around MLB, Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.