Okay, REAL analysis of the trade: now with less swearing!

So...the Twins get offered Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, and Phil Hughes in separate packages, and end up with Phil Humber? Honestly, Hughes was probably the best prospect they could ask for, and decided to take a risk and see if a better offer would come around. Now, to their credit, these were the #2, 3, 4, and 7 prospects in the Mets farm system (according to Baseball America). That's slightly misleading since the Mets traded a lot of prospects a few years ago when acquiring Delgado, Lo Duca, and others. I think among those traded were Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla. I'd do the research, but I'm tired and lazy. Just this once; next time I'll be awake and motivated. Promise. None of the prospects given up by the Mets appear as can't miss as the guys the Yankees and Sox were offering, so you have to figure the Twins were going for two things:

1) Get Santana out of the AL. Unless they were gonna be blown away by an AL offer, this seemed to be the plan from the get go.

2) If we can't get equal value, at least get quantity. Four prospects isn't a bad haul and since the AL teams were offering the same quantity, the NL wins by default.

As for Santana, while his limp to the finish line last season is slightly alarming, it's assuring to know that in his "off year" you're still getting an above average ERA, 200+ innings/strikeouts and a guy who's on the good side of 30 years old. Add to the fact he'll be facing the weaker lineups of the NL and it's safe to say this is a deal the Mets had to make. None of the guys they gave up were going to help them like Santana will. The Yankees decided they were going with their youth movement (a wise decision, in my opinion) and the Red Sox were happy with what they have. However, while everyone else calls Josh Beckett an unquestioned ace after his unstoppable playoff run, I'd like to see him actually string two dominant seasons in a row before knighting him Sir Soul Patch of Douchetown. So, quick recap: Great deal for Mets, probably not such a good one for the Twins, and good decisions by the Yanks/Sox.