Hank praises Mets' trade

Thursday, January 31, 2008Hank Steinbrenner praises Mets' move
BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Thursday, January 31st 2008, 4:00 AM

More than anyonein the Yankee hierarchy, Hank Steinbrenner wanted to
trade for Johan Santana and once said publicly that the Bombers had
made the best offer and that the Twins knew it.

But the Yankees ultimately decided not to pursue the Minnesota ace,
preferring to keep their young nucleus and not have to sign Santana to
an expensive long-term extension. The Mets made the deal instead,
although both the Yankees and Red Sox talked to the Twins on Tuesday,
the day the trade was made.

Asked yesterday if he was tempted to top the Met offer, Steinbrenner,
the senior vice president, said in a brief telephone interview, "I
don't want to comment now. We'll see what happens."

He added, "There was nothing to get involved in. The trade's done.
That's it. Any other opinion I've had, I've already stated."

Asked for his view of the deal the Mets made, sending four prospects
to Minnesota for Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner,
Steinbrenner said, "I think the Twins did what they needed to do and I
think the Mets made a good deal."

>
> But the Yankees ultimately decided not to pursue the Minnesota ace,
> preferring to keep their young nucleus and not have to sign Santana to
> an expensive long-term extension.

I thought a "young nucleus" had to actually DO something to be
considered as such - kinda like Dustin (ROTY), Jacoby (massive against
the best comptition at the toughest time of the year), Clay (no-no)
have.

OTOH, we have Joba (choked when it mattered vs. the Tribe), Flop
(injured then a shell of his former self - which wasn't all that to
start with) and Dead Kennedy (tagged around by the Royals and other
scrubs regularly).

*shrug*

But what do I know - I'm just a prostate stuck up Paula's ass.