In a report for the New York Post, George King quotes Hank Steinbrenner as having one regret while running the Yankees alongside his brother Hal and Brian Cashman:

I should have pushed harder for the [Johan] Santana deal.

King goes on to say that Hank was talked out of the deal by Hal and Cashman, who believed that the cost in talent (Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy) and money was too high for Santana.

It’s very difficult to determine whether the cost for a player will appear to be too high down the road, even if the price seems steep today.  Johan Santana got a 6-year, $137.5 million extension with the Mets, and pitched himself to a 16-7 record (although he deserved better) with 3 complete games, 2 of which were shutouts while posting a league best 2.53 ERA.

CC Sabathia, who is clearly an extraordinary regular-season pitcher, has thus far failed to come close to duplicating that success in the postseason, and despite that, it is widely believed that $137.5 million will just be the start of the conversation with his agent.

My point?  It’s clear that Johan’s contract has become an absolute bargain, and I’m glad we got him for the price (in talent and dollars) that we did.  This also could help one argue the possible high price, many year signings of Manny Ramirez and Francisco Rodriguez, as either deal may appear low-cost by the market’s standards in just a year or two.

By the way, Melky Cabrera hit .249 this year in 414 ABs, with 8 HRs and 37 RBI while Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes started a combined 17 games for the Yanks and won a total of zero.