Santana Closer To Being Moved

By Ed Ryan at Mets Fever (Network Member):

Johan Santana will be a free agent at the end of the 2008 season. After Luis Castillo was traded he expressed his displeasure with the organizations perpetual rebuilding and contemplated his future with the Twins. The club denies throwing in the towel, Castillo was simply a business decision regarding a pending free agent. The interesting thing is, that the Twins said Jeff Cirillo would help at second base to fill the void left by Castillo. But after the trade deadline Cirillo was placed on waivers and claimed by the D-Backs. If they could justify moving Castillo and still be competitive, there's no way Cirillo wasn't simply a cost cutting measure. I'm sure Santana isn't any happier now that the veteran infielder is also gone.

These were Johan Santana's words Tuesday after the non-waiver trade deadline passed without another trade: "I'm not surprised. That's exactly how they are. That's why we're never going to go beyond where we've gone."

The Twins acquired two minor league prospects for Castillo, saved $2 million in payroll and did nothing to bolster this year's chances. "It's not just abouthope," Santana said. "In a realistic world, you have to really make it happen and go for it. "You always talk about future, future. ... But if you only worry about the future, then I guess a lot of us won't be part of it," Santana said. source Star Tribune

The D-backs were awarded their third waiver claim in two days when they acquired pitcher Joe Kennedy from the A's on Saturday.

One day earlier, Arizona picked up pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim from the Marlins and infielder Jeff Cirillo from the Twins. source MLB.com