Jack Curry writes a temedous story about how Astros Scout Andres Reiner found Santana.  The story shows how easy it would have been for Johann Santana not to be the biggest story of the winter, but it also shows you a bit about the life of a scout, which we don’t always see.  Sure it was 1994, but Reiner had to beg and pester to spend $400.  Now the Mets will spend many million, and that is one of the most fascinating things about baseball.  Major League minimum salary for a player in the big leagues is $390,000, and thats considered cheap, but teams are reluctant to spend money, and I mean any money on players who aren’t close to being Major League ready, because so much can happen in their development.  Curry’s story shows this very clearly.  Gerry Hunsicker called failing to protect Santana on its 40-man roster in 1999 “one of the more regrettable decisions” he made with the Astros.  It’s a big one too.