· Apparently,
Phil Hughes started his own weblog. It will be interesting to see a young star's take on life in Major League Baseball; though most fans are more excited by the prospect of Phil-er-up remaining a Yankee for the next 15 years or so. It'll probably be like 38Pitches . . . but without the pretentious, annoying, egocentric tone.
And, as if Phil could escape his inextricable link to Johan Santana,
here is the latest Hank Steinbrenner spiel. This one comes from Minneapolis and has the new Boss reiterating that he makes the final decision. Somewhere Hal Steinbrenner is chuckling to himself, "Keep telling yourself that, Hanky."
· Here is a good piece on Humberto Sanchez and his recovery from TJ surgery. He is also trying to prove wrong the countless critics who believe Sanchez will never live up to his potential due to conditioning and health shortcomings.
From MiLB.com:
"My goal is just to be 100 percent by the end of April, a year out from the surgery," he said. "My dream goal would be to be in New York by the All-Star break, but a lot of things come into it -- if they need someone there [and] my performance at that point."
With Yankee Stadium entering its final year, there is more incentive than ever for Sanchez to complete his rehab and make it to the big leagues this season.
"Oh, it's definitely been on my mind," he said. "Especially [after] getting married and having a baby. I'd like to have Jennifer come to a game at the old Yankee Stadium; she's never been there before. And my baby. And my family."
As a lifelong Yankees fan and Bronx native, Humberto has all the motivation in the world to prove himself to be the dominant pitching prospect he's been touted as for the past three years.
· Buster Olney believes the
Mets, Yankees, Red Sox and Twins should all pass on a Santana trade before the regular season... and revisit a potential deal as the trading deadline approaches. From ESPN:
If you've ever watched the show "Deal Or No Deal," you kind of get an idea of the situation Minnesota general manager Bill Smith is in, as he decides when to swap Johan Santana.
The million-dollar deal is off the table. It's not happening. Quite simply, Smith is not going to get a deal as good as the deal that Oakland got for Dan Haren. Because Santana is eligible for free agency after the 2008 season, neither the Red Sox nor the Yankees is willing to give up the boatload of young players that Smith really wanted for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, while paying Santana a $125-$150 million extension.
So if you are Smith, what do you do? Do you take a subpar deal? Or do you simply go to spring training and prepare to start the season with Santana?
If I was in Smith's shoes, I'd keep Santana. Because to trade him would be to forgo the opportunity to contend in 2008, when the Twins have a chance to be a good team, with Francisco Liriano returning, with Joe Nathan closing, with Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young hitting in the middle of their lineup.
That makes sense to me Busta.
· Erik Bedard to the Mariners is reportedly
"one player away," according to Ken Rosenthal. The one player, however, is Chris Tillman, a 19 year-old pitching prospect which Seattle does not intend on parting with.
