The Twins are working on a contract extension for Johan Santana, who is currently slated to become a free agent next November. The odds of an extension being agreed upon are extremely slim, and the Twins could and should shop him aggressively at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee during the early part of December. (The price will certainly be more than career minor leaguer Jared Camp, who Florida traded Santana for in 1999.) The starting pitching in this year?s free agent class is extremely weak, and there are several teams big market teams (Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox) who are desperate to acquire Santana and simultaneously have very attractive young prospects that could help Minnesota rebuild around Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Without debate, Santana has been the best pitcher in the MLB since becoming a regular starter in 2003. He has a league-best 2.92 ERA over 1070.2 innings during the time span. Roger Clemens is the only other pitcher with a sub-3.00 ERA and only 34 other pitchers who have thrown at least 300 innings over the span are within a run of Santana. Santana also has the best WHIP (1.006), 3rd best K/BB (4.70) and 4th best SO/9 (9.68) during this span. He?s historically been better in the second half of the season (3.59 ERA vs. 2.79 ERA), something teams looking for a playoff berth will necessitate. But as much as acquiring Santana makes long losing streaks infrequent and winning 100 games much easier, the payback (both from what is yielded via trade and a $20 million annual contract) surely must come in October. Thanks to playoff appearances in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006, Santana has 34 innings of experience, but also a 1-4 record. Eliminating his six appearances in relief, Santana has a 2.98 ERA in his five postseason starts and a 1.35 ERA in his three starts since 2004. In obvious summation, Santana is dominant, durable, pressure-proof and also left-handed. How has Santana pitched at the stadiums where he could end up? - Yankees Stadium: 1.17 ERA over 40 innings With the dimensions remaining the same at the New Yankee Stadium opening in 2009, this will continue to be an excellent park for left-handed pitchers. With the best in baseball run support, the richest checkbook in sports, MLB-ready pitching prospects and a World Series drought, Santana and the Yankees are the perfect match. - Shea Stadium: 0.60 ERA over 15 innings Omar Minaya has made no secret his wish to acquire Santana, and he has the capabilities to sign him long term without sacrificing other areas of the team, but their prospects (Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey) do not measure against any of the other bidders. - Angel Stadium: 5.16 ERA over 22.2 innings Arte Moreno has been flirting with making another huge splash with an impact player for a few years now and with Alex Rodriguez no longer an option, it could come down between Santana and Miguel Cabrera. The Angels certainly could put together an aggressive package. - Dodger Stadium: Santana has never pitched at Dodger Stadium The Dodgers are still in limbo between winning now and letting their youth develop naturally. Either way, Santana would be the best left-handed pitcher Chavez Ravine has seen since the Fernando days. - Fenway Park: 6.89 ERA over 15.2 innings Boston is built to win now and also win in the future through a superb blend of players in their prime and who are also developing. The karma seems to be a little too good to trade a Jacoby Ellsbury and a Clay Buchholz, but to stave off the Yankees Theo Epstein can't rest on his laurels.