Who Does Johan Santana Think He Is -- A-Rod?

It's 4:04 as I write this, and the Mets and Santana have less than an hour to reach a deal. Will theydo it? Read this and try to figure it out.

Santana has been offered a very good deal. The Mets are not going insane here, but they are stretching a bit to reel in one of the best starting pitchers in baseball (if not the best). If the Mets can't ink Santana, what will happen next? Will the same deal paralysis occur near the trade deadline, or will the Twins trade Santana for fewer prospects because there won't be a way to ink him to a longer-term deal as part of a trade mid-summer? And, if that happens, what will this failure do to the market for Santana after the season? Will the Yankees and Red Sox go at it again? Will Santana command this kind of money again, or, in the wake of what could be another mediocre year by Barry Zito in the best pitcher's park in baseball, will the value for all pitchers drop?

And, if the deal fails now, will Hank Steinbrenner swoop in and make the deal? My Met fan friends said that the Mets had to do this, but don't the Yankees really have to do this deal too?

Hank Steinbrenner pulled an A-Rod deal out of the fire with A-Rod before in a great fashion. Perhaps there's an encore in the near future.