NEW YORK -- The New York Mets need pitching and they'd love to land Johan Santana. Not enough to trade star shortstop Jose Reyes, though.
| GM | HR | RBI | R | OBP | AVG |
| 160 | 12 | 57 | 119 | .354 | .280 |
"Jose Reyes is one of our core players," general manager Omar Minaya said Thursday. "I don't see us trading Jose Reyes for one of those guys being mentioned. It just doesn't make sense for us."
The Minnesota Twins are listening to trade offers for Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who can become a free agent after next season. The Mets are one of several big-budget teams thought to be interested, including the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels.
The Mets think they might have a package of prospects that could bring back a top starting pitcher, but Minnesota may want the 24-year-old Reyes included in any potential deal for Santana.
"All those guys that are being mentioned in the market, as far as trade market, we've been in contact with these guys, on a regular basis," Minaya said. "No club has told us, 'Hey, forget it, you're not in.' Now maybe they have told us, 'Hey, for you to be in, you have to have this player.' And we can say, 'Hey, well thank you very much, but we're not going to be in with this player's name in it.'"
A two-time All-Star, Reyes batted .280 with 12 homers, 57 RBIs and 119 runs this season. He also led the major leagues with 78 stolen bases, the third straight year he's topped the NL in that category. But he slumped in the second half as New York blew a big NL East lead and missed the playoffs after a historic collapse.
While Santana would undoubtedly boost the suspect rotation, trading Reyes would diminish the Mets' lineup and leave them with a huge hole at shortstop.
"I can't comment on Santana," Minaya said. "We're very happy with Jose Reyes."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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