1 trade every MLB team would like to have back
By Drew Koch
1 trade the Minnesota Twins want to take back: Johan Santana
So, believe it or not, Johan Santana’s path to the major leagues didn’t actually begin with the Minnesota Twins, but the Miami Marlins. Santana was left unprotected in the 1999 Rule 5 Draft.
The Twins and Marlins devised a pre-draft trade that would see Minnesota take Jared Camp with the first-overall pick and then Miami selected Santana with the second pick in the draft. The two teams would then swap players.
Santana would go on to have one of the great careers in Major League Baseball and were it not for shoulder injuries later in his career, the left-hander could have easily garnered Hall of Fame consideration.
Johan Santana spent eight seasons in Minneapolis and led the league in strikeouts for three consecutive seasons while also taking home the ERA title in both 2004 and 2006. Santana was a two-time Cy Young Award winner before being dealt to the New York Mets in 2008.
Santana would sign a six-year extension with the Mets, but the aforementioned shoulder injuries robbed the southpaw of his 2011 and 2013 seasons. Santana tried to make a comeback in 2014 and 2015, but nagging injuries prevented him from ever seeing a major league field again. Still, the Twins would love to have that deal back.