As we've now witnessed a touch over a month of minor league baseball, it's worth it in many fantasy leagues to look ahead at who may be making a visit to the majors sometime this season. Remember, Ryan Braun, for example, wasn't yet in the major leagues at this point in his rookie season. This isn't to say that all of these guys -- or any -- will have that sort of an impact in the majors this year.
We're just giving a quick, non-comprehensive list of players who are playing relatively well in the minors this year and/or who have a chance to make a fantasy impact at some point. We'll start with the big names, but it won't be limited to just them. Dynasty league players should be paying the most attention.
Wondering which young players could have an impact in the majors this year? Let MLB FanHouse guide the way in Better Know a Prospect. In this edition we look at three players from the Minnesota Twins.
Jose Mijares, RP: Returning from a broken arm last season, Mijares started at the very bottom and worked his way to the top, exceeding expectations every stop of the way. He dominated across four levels of play, beginning with a stint in Rookie league all the way up to 10 phenomenal innings (0.87 ERA, 0.29 WHIP) in the big leagues. Surely he should be able to ride that wave of success into a regular big-league job in 2009, right?
Looks like Carlos Gomez wasn't pulled from the Caribbean World Series for no reason. The Mets and Twins have agreed on a deal to send Johan Santana to Queens for four prospects, pending an agreement on a contract extension between the lefty and his new club. The package - Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey - doesn't include prized outfield prospect Fernando Martinez, long believed to be the sticking point in negotiations.
Take your hat off to Omar Minaya for getting this deal done without including Martinez. In a market that had the Twins demandin several top prospects from all suitors, Minaya's handiwork should be applauded. He dealt three pitchers who, while solid prospects, weren't going to help the Mets appreciably in 2008 or 2009 and turned them into the game's best pitcher. Throw in the helpful move from American to National League and the pitcher's paradise that is Shea Stadium and you've got a gem of a deal for the Amazins.
As for the Twins, it's a mixed blessing. They got a five-tool player in Gomez who will replace Torii Hunter in the lineup this summer. But GM Bill Smith didn't get Phil Hughes or any other stud, major league ready pitcher for the rotation. The three ex-Mets project as major leaguers, but none is quite there yet. Coupled with the trade of Matt Garza earlier this offseason and the rehabbing Francisco Liriano, the Twins are looking awfully thin on the mound in the near future.
Yesterday, the word out of New York was that the Yankees found the combination of prospects and hefty new contract too prohibitive a price to pay for Johan Santana. That offered the Mets a glimmer of hope at landing the prized pig of the Hot Stove, but only if they included 19-year old Fernando Martinez in a package with four other prospects.
The quintet - Martinez, outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber - is made up of five of the top seven prospects in the Mets system, according to Baseball America. When you add in a new contract in the neighborhood of $140 million for six years, the Mets would be placing the next half-decade of hopes on Santana's left shoulder. That's a tremendous amount of risk, even for a general manager as aggressive as Omar Minaya, and it's why the team is passing on such a proposal.
The risk of not making the deal is almost as large, however. The Mets are running the risk of letting the window opened by the Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran signings close without winning anything. Yes, they're set to contend again next year but without an ace pitcher, are they any better than we left them in September? Whatever Tom Glavine's foibles, he's left a hole in the rotation that they've only filled with uncertainty. Play for now or play for later, that's the question, and how the Mets proceed will provide the answer.
The consensus seems to be that the reason the Twins haven't traded Johan Santana yet is because they haven't gotten an offer from anybody they think is fair. Or maybe it's just that they're holding out and letting potential trade partners try to outbid each other for their services.
But what if it's neither of those things that are keeping Johan in Minnesota right now. What if the reason the Twins need to move Johan is the reason they can't? Nobody is willing to pay Johan what he wants.
The Mets think they have the players – Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Mulvey – to top the Red Sox' latest offer. The question is whether the Wilpon family is willing to write a fat enough check to satisfy Santana. Indeed, the greatest obstacle to bringing Santana to Shea may not be the Twins; it could be the left-hander's desire to make $25 million a year.
"No way," said one person familiar with the Mets' financial picture. Not when the game's richest pitcher, Barry Zito, is making a mere $18 million per. Paying Santana 40 percent more than Zito is crazy to anyone except the impossibly rich Yankees. Not even the Red Sox seem eager to go that high, which may explain why the Twins have yet to complete the deal with GM Theo Epstein.
It's hard to argue that anybody is worth $25 million a year, but if Alex Rodriguez is worth at least that much as the game's best hitter, isn't it only logical the game's best pitcher should be worth just as much? After all, doesn't the old adage say that pitching wins championships?
If a team really wants Johan's services, they're going to have to accept the fact he's going to cost that much. Whether you trade for him now, or wait until he hits free agency, he's going to cost you $25 million a year. If the Red Sox or Mets are serious about keeping him away from the Yankees, they'll have to pull the trigger eventually. If they don't, the Yankees will have no problem paying him that kind of money after the season, and they won't have to give up Philip Hughes or Melky Cabrera to do it.
Earlier today -- in what was, all around, a pretty sleepy day at the winter meetings -- blog MLB Trade Rumors ran an unsourced rumor from a "trusted New York sportswriter" that was just too crazy for words. Blockbuster, in fact, doesn't really begin to describe the thing:
Minnesota has initiated talks for a three-way blockbuster with the Twins and A's. Here's how it would go down:
Mets get Johan Santana, Bobby Crosby and Dan Johnson A's get Jose Reyes and Kevin Mulvey Twins get Dan Haren and Hector Pellot
Insane, right? What's more insane is that trade actually works out for everyone involved, most notably the Mets.
So MLB Trade Rumors got everyone at the winter meetings scurrying about -- can't you just picture the darting sportswriters and the ducking GMs? -- before Joel Sherman at the New York Postgot confirmation that nothing was in the works:
This is one of the funnier stories I've read recently, and I have to thank to FanHouse's very own Mullet from Metstradamusfor passing it along. Mets pitching prospect Kevin Mulvey played on the same team with Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum in the Cape Cod league back in 2005. And although Lincecum was starting against Mulvey's Mets on Tuesday night, Mulvey was still pulling for Tim to have a good game. Mulvey even shared an anecdote about Lincecum's delightful sense of humor, via Adam Rubin's New York Daily News blog:
Mulvey, the Mets' top pick in the '06 draft, who pitches tonight for Binghamton, recalled Lincecum's quick wit when he was struck in the back of the head with a line drive while they were playing together.
As Lincecum was on the stretcher, he lightheartedly told the medics: "Don't drop me. I'm worth a million dollars."
Said Mulvey: "I'm telling you he got smoked. I thought he was dead."
"He's a great guy," Mulvey continued.
That's fantastic. I'm sure getting hit in the back of the head by a line drive is no pleasure, but Lincecum turned it into a funny moment. Between this story and the way the kid's been pitching, I'm starting to like him more and more every day. The 22-year-old is only 5'11" and 170lbs, yet he can throw in the upper-90s, and he's already dominating major-league hitters. What's not to like about the guy? (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
As we've now witnessed a touch over a month of minor league baseball, it's worth it in many fantasy leagues to look ahead at who may be making a visit to the majors sometime this season. Remember, Ryan Braun, for example, wasn't yet in the major leagues at this point in his rookie season. This isn't to say that all of these guys -- or any -- will have that sort of an impact in the majors this year. 
Wondering which young players could have an impact in the majors this year? Let MLB FanHouse guide the way in 
Looks like 
The consensus seems to be that the reason the Twins haven't traded 
Earlier today -- in what was, all around, a pretty sleepy day at the winter meetings -- blog 
This is one of the funnier stories I've read recently, and I have to thank to FanHouse's very own 
