Monumental deal with Arizona

All good things must come to an end. Johan Santana was a very good thing for the Frostbite Falls Flying Squirrels. In his five years with the franchise, the hard-throwing lefty won 74 games, including a league-record 20 and a Cy Young in 2005, and helped the Squirrels to three B.A.R.B. championships.

But new Squirrels GM Jack Zduriencik decided the team would be better with Santana out of the Frozen Tundra.

"It's not that he's a bad teammate; in fact, he's great around the clubhouse. He's just so expensive and has already reached his peak. Because he's still one of the best, we were able to get a ton of talent for him."

The Squirrels have agreed to send Santana along with 2B Luis Castillo to the Arizona D-Backs for five players and a draft pick. The players coming to northern Minnesota are OF Magglio Ordonez (who played for Santa Barbara in 2003 and Frostbite Falls in 2004), RHP Felix Hernandez, 1B Conor Jackson, OF Justin Upton and LHP Andrew Miller. The Flying Squirrels also got Arizona's first round pick, number seven overall.

"We feel very good about this season and beyond," said Zduriencik. "Yes, we gave up the best pitcher in the league, but we filled a vacancy in the outfield, filled Santana's rotation spot with an outstanding youngster, got a very talented backup first baseman, and picked up two amazing prospects who could both help the big league team this year. Not to mention, we got that 7th pick. I think we got better with this deal."

Santana wasn't shocked to hear that he was dealt.

"I know I will be making lots of money the next few years, and they did the best thing for their team. I'll tell you this, I'm going to go into the Hall of Fame wearing a Frostbite Falls hat. In fact, I don't plan to be in Arizona very long. I'm going to have a month-to-month apartment. That Melkonian guy might trade me at any time."

During his 5-year stint in Santa Barbara and Frostbite Falls, Santana was 74-40 with a 3.29 ERA. He completed 24 of his 143 starts, six of which were shutouts. The ace struck out 1012 batters in 1038 1/3 innings and had a 1.15 WHIP.

The Squirrels are rumored to have another few deals done or nearing completion that include the pick from Arizona and Jason Bay, and earlier today an official who chose anonymity said there could be a bit of division re-alignment in the cards.