Nah, I don’t think its necessarily a “lights out” situation for the Yanks. I’m a bit leary of Santana. Some have speculated that he is slipping. The Red Sox have hit him pretty well.
There are other top-notch pitchers out there that are available (eg. Danny Haren from the A’s for instance and they would love to get Melky).
With the Sox spending so many of top prospects they will have little to offer come July when they are trying to make trade deadline deals to fill an unexpected voids. In the out years it will be a few years before they have top prospects again to make a big trade to fill the Manny void when he retires.
It is a good thing short term for the Sox because the Yankees are always a dominant team when they have an overpowering left handed pitcher because of the dimensions of Yankee Stadium (old and new). Keeping him away from NY is a big thing in that regard, but the Sox already have a great young starting staff and trading for Haren would be just as good a deal for them.
I also think the Yankees would be better off sticking with youth for a couple of years like they did in the 1992-1994 time frame that produced Jeter, Brosius, Pettite et. al. That would set them up nicely for another run.
The Sox success so far in this century is because they have modeled themselves on the Yankees. Strong minor league system to develop talent, strong pitching and defense, balanced lineup. Fill holes with big-name free agents and big trades. I think the Yanks sort of got away from that and look more like pre-2004 Red Sox teams that always came up short...strong batting order, marginal pitching and defense and inadequate minor league system. The last item the Yanks have fixed because they now are back to developing top talent, but for five or six years they ignored their minor league system; just spending like drunken sailors to stay ahead of Boston (eg. Johnny Damon, Randy Johnson).
That’s the best post I’ve ever read written by you. Thank you. Perhaps there’s hope for your Bosox fans, yet. :-)