George King and Joel Sherman of the New York Post report that the initial asking price for Johan Santana is higher than they wished to pay. 

The Post writes that the Yankees have learned in the past 24-48 hours that the initial asking price by the Twins is exorbitant, well beyond just the Phil Hughes/Melky Cabrera level that had been generally anticipated.

An NL executive said to watch out for the Cubs (Felix Pie) and perhaps the Mariners (Adam Jones) as new players in the Santana sweepstakes.

“After the Dodgers, the Angels have the most and then the Yankees and Red Sox although it’s not clear if they have what the Twins want and need,” an evaluator said.

The Twins are seeking a centerfielder as well as a third baseman. The Angels have Brandon Wood to offer at third, the Dodgers have Andy LaRoche.

The Yankees are not willing to trade Joba Chamberlain and have no third baseman to give the Twins. The Red Sox do not have a third baseman to deal unless they include Kevin Youkilis, which is unlikely. The Red Sox seem unwilling to include Jacoby Ellsbury in a deal as well, which could put them out of the running even if they included pitchers Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester.

Yesterday, noted Twins blogger and contributing baseball writer for Rotoworld and NBC Sports, Aaron Gleeman told Hot Foot he thought the Mets could put together a package to get Santana, but they’re seen as a dark horse among the other teams contending for his services.

Gleeman suggested a package that includes two of either Lastings Milledge, Fernando Martinez, and Carlos Gomez, along with one of Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, or Kevin Mulvey in as the third piece. Gleeman said a lot depends on what other teams come to the table with, obviously, but the Mets definitely have enough desirable young players to get something done.

I’ve said this before, the Mets on the surface do not have the best package to offer but the teams who do seem unwilling to give up what the Twins want, which gives the Mets a better chance at their offer being relatively competitive, if not better than what other teams are willing to sacrifice.

The Yankees are far more willing to spend a ridiculous amount of cash than they are to want to give up their crown jewels in Cano, Hughes and Chamberlain. The Dodgers seem to want to hold onto their young outfielders. The Angels may choose to spend their prospects on Cabrera or Tejada instead. This puts the Mets in a better position than it appears on the surface to land Santana.