Bullpen acquisitions included Chad Bradford, Jorge Julio, and Duaner Sánchez. Despite the veteran additions, Minaya was able to limit payroll by trading Mike Cameron to the San Diego Padres for Xavier Nady and Kris Benson to the Baltimore Orioles for Jorge Julio and John Maine. In 2006 the Mets won the National League East by 12 games, finishing first with a National-League-best and Major League-tied 97 wins. During the season, Minaya fortified the team by making additional trades, acquiring Orlando Hernández (for Jorge Julio) and Óliver Pérez and Roberto Hernández (for Xavier Nady) and trading away second baseman Kazuo Matsui. Minaya and the Mets were featured in the Sports Illustrated cover story for the June 18, 2007 issue. The article focused on Minaya's upbringing in the Dominican Republic and Queens, as well as his brief minor league playing career, his two years playing professional baseball in Tuscany, and time as an international scout in the Rangers' organization. The Mets signed Moisés Alou to multiple lucrative contracts, but Alou was plagued with injuries during his Mets career. Minaya also traded away several young pitchers that many fans believe could have helped the Mets avert their historic breakdown at the end of the 2007 season. In November 2006, Minaya sent Heath Bell and Royce Ring to the Padres for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins. A few days later, he sent hard-throwing relievers Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom to the Florida Marlins for lefties Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick. The following month, he traded starting pitcher Brian Bannister (son of former major league pitcher Floyd Bannister) to the Kansas City Royals for a live bullpen arm in Ambiorix Burgos. The young pitchers dealt away by Minaya, most notably Bell and Lindstrom thrived with their new teams, overall the Mets netted little on those deals. Minaya's biggest acquisition came on January 29, 2008, when he reached a tentative deal with the Minnesota Twins to send Carlos Gómez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra to the Twins for ace pitcher Johan Santana. The trade became official after Santana was signed to a contract extension and passed a physical. Gómez was the only one of these four players to have a significant major league career, primarily with the Brewers, after just two years with the Twins. The next off-season, Minaya needed to address the bullpen. On December 9, he signed closer Francisco Rodríguez to a