Nov 30, 2007 8:30 pm US/Eastern
Red Sox In Running For Santana, Maybe Haren
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
The Boston Red Sox are in the running with the New York Yankees for one of the best pitchers in baseball, Twins starter Johan Santana.
But, the Sox may be looking at another outstanding pitcher at a much lower price.
According to several published reports, the Red Sox have offered Coco Crisp, Jon Lester and two prospects - possibly Jed Lowrie and Michael Bowden - for Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who can become a free agent after next season.
If the teams agree on the players, the Red Sox would have to negotiate a new contract with Santana - likely to be the richest ever given to a pitcher. He has reportedly rejected a 4-year, $80 million offer from Minnesota.
In his blog, WBZ's Dan Roche writes that the Red Sox-Twins talks could be aimed at driving up the price for the Yankees and New York Mets.
"The Sox could then go to Oakland and offer a very good package of players for All-Star pitcher Dan Haren. They then have him locked in for 3 years at around $16 million. They put him in behind Josh Beckett and away they go," writes Roche.
According to
si.com's Jon Heyman, the A's have contacted the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets about Haren.
Haren was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA last season. He was the starting pitcher for the American League in the 2007 All-Star game.
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