If I'm the Twins' general manager, here's what I do. (And I'd do it under duress because I'd be working for a cheapskate owner.) I get on the horn with Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and say, "You want Johan Santana, right?"
Epstein likely will say, "Right."
Then I say, "Tell you what. I'll trade you Santana and Carlos Silva and Joe Nathan."
Then I wait for Epstein to pick the phone up off the floor, and I say, "I don't really want to part with Santana or Nathan, but my owner is a cheapskate and won't pay what it will take to sign them long term. So, you give me center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, second baseman Dustin Pedroia, closer Jonathan Papelbon, starters Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, and we've got a deal."
Presumably, Epstein will balk at giving up all that, so I'd tell him I need to get off the phone so I can call the Yankees. He'd come around because getting Santana and Nathan, particularly Santana, pretty much would ensure the Red Sox of several more trips to the World Series. And with that offense backing him up, Silva would help, too.
Meantime, the Twins significantly reduce their payroll, making owner Carl Pohlad giddy, and they get one of the game's best young center fielders (Ellsbury), the game's best young closer (Papelbon), a terrific young second baseman (Pedroia) and two promising young pitchers (Lester and Buchholz).
I have just one question: What's Twins general manager Bill Smith waiting for? He should have