Paying for Santana

Just thinking about Johan Santana possibly playing for the Red Sox and it occurred to me that if they acquired and signed him it is very possible that he could have almost ZERO impact on the Red Sox payroll. Consider that between Matt Clement and Eric Gagne the Red Sox have approximately $14.5 million coming off the books for this season. If Coco Crisp is part of the package that lands Santana then that's another $5 million. That's a total of $19.5 million.

Next year the Red Sox will most likely have Curt Schilling's $10 million coming off the books ($8 million base plus $2 million in incentives). So if the Red Sox sign Santana for $20 million for 2008 with a $25 million annual salary for years 2009-2012 with another $25 million option for 2013 then that's a 6-year deal (including the option year) at $145 million. That should get the deal done. That would also basically put the Red Sox for those years at or possibly below what their overall payroll was for 2007.

That's mind blowing.