Burger King ships Arwind Santos to San Miguel

Arwind Santos finally got his wish to play for San Miguel Beer, the winningest team in the history of the Philippine Basketball Association.

Burger King team manager and incoming board chairman Lito Alvarez confirmed to GMANews.TV that they have already agreed to send the 6-foot-4 forward to the Beermen after their third-place finish in the ongoing Motolite-PBA Fiesta Conference.

The Beermen are still playing the Ginebra Gin Kings in the best-of-seven championship series.

None among the officials confirmed the trade although a highly-placed source revealed that Santos will be shipped in exchange for three players – 6-foot-9 Samigue Eman, 6-foot-5 burly forward Ken Bono and veteran shooting guard Chris Calaguio.

But Alvarez said they are still negotiating with San Miguel as to who are the players they will be getting in exchange of the former Far Eastern University stalwart, who wound up as bridesmaid for the MVP plum for two consecutive years.

“We’ve agreed to send Arwind to San Miguel right after the battle for third place," said Alvarez. “Right now, pinag-uusapan pa namin kung sino yung kapalit."

Santos has long expressed his interest to play with San Miguel. He played for Viva Mineral Water and Magnolia, San Miguel’s farm team in the Philippine Basketball League and won championships on top of individual accolades.

In search of a PBA title, Santos may finally get his chance to win it this time with the power-packed Beermen, the winnigest team in pro league’s history with 17 championships. He will join a squad that has superstars like Dondon Hontiveros, veterans Danny Ildefonso and Olsen Racela, slotmen Mick Pennisi and Dorian Pena, guard Mike Cortez, and up and coming superstars like Marc Pingris, Jay Washington, Bonbon Custodio and Jons Villanueva.

The Beermen, who are still battling the Ginebra Gin Kings for the best-of-seven championship series, also have Danny Seigle and Lordy Tugade, who are both on the injured list.

Asked about his thoughts on this new development, Burger King coach Yeng Guiao said he was not aware that Santos’ transfer to San Miguel has already been approved.

“I have no knowledge about this," said Guiao. “Maybe it’s management to management negotiations."