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TOM CRANN: It's All Things Considered from Minnesota Public Radio news. I'm Tom Crann. Executives from all 30 Major League Baseball teams have convened for their annual winter meetings this week. And the hottest topic involves the Minnesota Twins and their star pitcher, Johan Santana.

The Twins are widely expected to trade Santana, but to which team and for which players? Well, no one really knows the answers to those questions yet, but it hasn't stopped sportswriters from around the country from staking out the meetings underway in Nashville and from rumors of impending trades flying through the airwaves and through cyberspace, too. Well, here to help us make some sense of all of this baseball drama is Minnesota Public Radio's William Willcoxen. He's been following the story, and he joins me now. It's good to have you here.

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Thanks, Tom.

TOM CRANN: So why is everyone so interested in the Twins ace, Johan Santana?

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Well, short answer is he's really good. He's one of the best pitchers in the game. And the pitchers are the most important players in baseball.

And is Johan Santana the very best? Well, sports fans, I'm sure, would love to debate that, but he's certainly on the list of the best pitchers. He's won the American League Cy Young Award twice in the last four years. And his contract is up after the 2008 season.

TOM CRANN: Why would the Twins want to get rid of him now then, and not at least keep him till the end of his contract in '08?

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Well, they're looking ahead. Santana will expect a long-term contract worth many millions of dollars. I mean, some of the speculation is that he may get a six-year contract worth $150 million. That's probably more than the Twins are going to want to pay him. And if he plays out his contract in Minnesota, then he would be free to walk away from the Twins, and the Twins would get nothing in return after the 2008 season.

TOM CRANN: Sounds like Torii Hunter.

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: The Twins just went through that with their star center fielder, Torii Hunter. And so the thinking is that they're going to be more determined to get something in return for Johan Santana. And so they might trade him this winter.

TOM CRANN: Is it a possibility at all that the Twins could come up with money like that, over 100 million?

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Well, you'd never want to say that they never will pay anybody that much. But history suggests that they tend to not do that. The teams in New York or the Los Angeles area or Boston or maybe Chicago, those markets tend to offer the players that kind of money. Minnesota does not tend to offer players that much money.

TOM CRANN: So, what could Minnesota get? What can they expect to get if they trade Santana?

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Well, they would probably seek a package of three players, maybe even four, and players who the Twins think are on the brink of stardom. And you could expect at least one of those players to be a pitcher to help replace the loss of Santana. And probably one of them is center fielder to help replace the loss of Torii Hunter. But I think as much as anything, they'd be looking for a certain type of player. I mean, their strategy is to get guys who are young and hungry, have lots of potential, but are not bringing in huge salaries already.

TOM CRANN: So this looks like it's a pattern that we might see the Twins saying goodbye to the best players when they leave Minnesota. If that's the case, are they ever going to have a really good team with some marquee names, some draws?

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Well, I think both of those might be the case. I mean, I think you're right that they will tend to say goodbye to a lot of their best players, like Johan Santana and Torii Hunter. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the Twins will never be good.

I mean, I think, the Minnesota strategy is to put together a collection of players who are good, but not necessarily superstars and who fit together well. And so looking ahead, I think, Minnesota will probably never have players as famous as those on the Yankees. And they'll never have a payroll as large as that, but instead they'll have a lot of good players. I mean the nickname for the Twins a couple of years ago was the "Piranhas." And I think that came from this tendency that they had to have a whole bunch of good players who sometimes can gang up on a team of big fish and come out ahead.

TOM CRANN: This drama over Johan Santana, they've been talking about it at least since Thanksgiving, probably longer. Why is this taking so long to play out?

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Well, a couple of reasons. One is just that the Twins are in the catbird seat now. They're able to shop around for the best offer. And so they're at these winter meetings that are underway in Nashville that you mentioned, and they're comparing offers from various teams that are interested in trying to get Santana. So that's one reason.

Another is that Santana himself has some say over what happens, because he has a no-trade clause in his contract. Now, he could easily waive that clause, but he would probably only do that if he and his agent have agreed to new contract terms with the team that the Twins are planning to trade him to. So there could be a hang up in that. Even if the Twins get to where they've agreed upon a trade, they would have Johan and his agent negotiate a contract with that new team before anything was announced publicly.

TOM CRANN: William Willcoxen with his eyes on the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, where the talk is Johan Santana and the Twins. Thanks, William.

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Thank you.