Go With The Youth or Trade The Prospects for the Big Fish

When the last post ended with the Mets as a better team than the Red Sox or the Yankees I got to thinking whether or not its a good idea to go with youth or trade the youth for that great player that can help your team now. This was a big topic this offseason as the Mets, Red Sox and Yankees were all involved in the Johan Santana sweep stakes (which we're all ecstatic to see Santana in the blue and Orange). Here are what are perceived as the pros and cons in a situation

Pros for the Mets:
No one can deny that adding a player such as in this case Johan Santana can give a team that swagger it needs to be the best. Now that Santana is a Met the press won't be all over a team that had the major collapse that the Mets did last fall. The other obvious pro in this deal is that the Mets didn't give up as much as many thought it would take to get Santana. They did not give up their crown jewl Fernando Martinez and were able to keep their best pitching prospect in Mike Pelfrey. Santana immediately makes the Mets on paper better than the Braves and Phillies.

Pros for the Yankees:
The Yankees have spent a lot of money since their last titles in the beginning of the decade on high profile players. This spending has produced success, but hasn't given them the type of success that they're used to. Brian Cashman decided to develop Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes with the hope that one of them can turn into an elite pitcher

Pros for the Red Sox:
The Red Sox already have one of the best rotations in baseball. They also have the luxury of having a pitcher that can be mentioned in the same conversation of Santana in Josh Beckett. Keeping players such as Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester will only continue to bring success to a team that has had a great decade.

Cons for the Mets:
This is possibly the toughest section. There are very few bad parts of the trade the Mets made. Carlos Gomez could turn out to be a nice player, but he needs to develop the offensive part of his game if he is going to become the star some of us thought he may when he came up with the Mets. Deolis Guerra has a lot of upside, but he is still in Single A. Phil Humber and Kevin Mulvey could turn out to be solid pitchers one day, but it is hard to see them as anything other than solid to back of the rotation starters.

Cons for the Yankees:
It is one thing to hold on to young players. It is a whole different thing to not give up young players who haven't accomplished anything for the most impressive pitcher of the past decade. If Phil Hughes is mediocre or even only pretty good, The Yankees and their fans are going to think what if?

Cons for the Red Sox
The Red Sox also had the opportunity to have one of the best pitchers in the game. However, as stated above, they already have one of the better pitchers in the game on their staff. That being said, having a staff with two of the best pitchers in the game under 30 could have given The Red Sox a dynasty.

If there is one thing that is clear, all teams seem to have benefited from this trade. However, the Mets will be trotting out the best pitcher of the decade when April first comes.