Santana gone? For whom?

The Twins traded top-in-the-world pitcher Johan Santana to the New York Mets for four prospects: Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber. All that the baseball world is waiting for are physical exams and Santana to sign a new contract with lots of zeros.

Let's face it: The Twins were hoodwinked. But not badly.

According to reports, Santana imposed a deadline for the trade, forcing the Twins to trade him, or play him next year and lose him to free agency. They had to move, and had to move fast. They couldn't get what they truly wanted.

I have no proof of this, but I suspect the Twins were always going to deal with the Mets, for three reasons:

1) The Mets NEEDED him more than the Yanks or Red Sox;

2) Santana himself probably WANTED to go to the Mets, and the National League, where he could be overpowering (not having to face the Tigers, Indians, Red Sox and Yankees), and giving him a chance to bat as well.

3) All four teams (Yankees, Red Sox, Twins and Mets) benefit from him going to the Mets – the Mets for obvious reasons, and the others because they won't have to face Santana regularly in the National League - only in interleague play and in the World Series.

That said, the Twins should have worked harder to get #1 Mets prospect Fernando Martinez. But they may have actually preferred speedster Gomez, who is supposed to be faster than the Mets' SS Reyes.

There's an old adage in coaching: You can't teach SPEED. With his speed, perhaps the Twins can teach Gomez better hitting and bat control, to improve his OBP and make him an even better leadoff hitter.

Guerra will still be down in AA or AAA this year. Humber and Mulvey may be in AAA, or could be on the Twins' roster; most likely one at each. So there may be some immediate help, but we won't be able to truly judge this deal for two or three years at least.

What the Twins need now is one veteran pitcher to lead this very young core group of starters. Let's hope they get one.