Santana: Mets Moving Forward & Yanks Backward?

An update on the previous post has Joe Christensen reporting Mets owner Fred Wilpon gave Omar Minaya authority to offer Johan Santana an extension topping th $100 million mark. Of course a Santana deal would begin at the $126 million contract Barry Zito received a year ago, so this may not mean too much. If Wilpon told Minaya to part with Fernando Martinez, that would be something to get excited about.

From the article:

A turning point came when Wilpon gave the green light to GM Omar Minaya. If Minaya swings the trade, as I wrote about today, Wilpon is confident he’ll get Santana signed. In the Mets’ camp, there is a belief that the price for Santana won’t be quite as high as advertised. Santana might ask for a six-year, $150 million extension, but there’s a belief teams could negotiate down from there.

In the meantime, the Daily News reports Hank Steinbrenner is "leaning away from" a Santana trade. From Peter Botte's article:

While stressing there is "absolutely nothing new" in terms of recent trade discussions with the Twins, Hank is beginning to sound convinced - if not nearly ready - to walk away from any potential blockbuster deal for Johan Santana.

"We went into this with me making the final baseball decisions and Hal more addressing the financial aspects of the company, but we both do everything," Steinbrenner said yesterday in a phone interview. "We're equal partners, but at this point, to tell you the truth, I'm leaning away from it anyway, so it doesn't matter. Same thing with Brian, he's another integral part of it, obviously, being the general manager, and one day he's leaning to do it and the next day he's not sure.

"But what it comes down to right now is giving up a lot (in a trade) and then having to do the big contract, as well. If (Santana) was just a free agent, we could just go ahead and do it. There's a big difference this way. We have to sign him as if he's a free agent, plus you have to give up major talent. That's a tall order."

Steinbrenner added that opinions offered by several unspecified Yankees "during the course of conversation" in recent weeks have contributed to his change of heart.

"I'm growing more and more comfortable with what we have, and the veteran players I've talked to seem to be pretty comfortable with what we have. But we'll see what happens," said Steinbrenner, who reiterated that the plan is to shift Joba Chamberlain into the starting rotation. "I'm hoping we'll be set to go (to spring training).

Bingo! All hail Hal.

UPDATE: From LoHud:

Exchanged some e-mails with Phil Hughes the last couple of days. He started working out in Tampa a few days ago. Phil Franchise used some of his bonus money to get a place in Florida and he’s one of the first to report to the complex.

Good to see, now keep him there.