The New York Yankees Say "ENOUGH!"

Hank Steinbrenner has told the Minnesota Twins that enough is enough and his Yankees have bowed out of the negotiation talks with the Minnesota Twins for the services of ace lefthander Johan Santana. If the Twins decide to part with him, and that is still an "if," the Red Sox seem to be his destination. This is from the Hartford Courant....

"Obviously Minnesota was asking for a lot," Steinbrenner said by phone of negotiations with the Twins. "At the end, they negotiated in good faith. ... It's something that we couldn't do."
"The bottom line is that this was our plan going in," Steinbrenner said of the Yankees' current roster. "We have the four veterans back that we wanted, including Andy [and Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, and the three young pitchers [Hughes, Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain], along with other young pitchers coming. We're loaded for pitching in the minors. Getting Andy back was huge."

The Red Sox have two possible deals on the table. First of all, Clay Buchholz has been declared untouchable, and that's good. Deal number one features Jacoby Ellsbury (ouch!) and the other includes lefty Jon Lester and center fielder Coco Crisp. In both deals are minor league infielder Jed Lowrie and 6-6 righty Justin Masterson. If I had a choice, I would take deal number two (thank you Monty Hall), for I want Jacoby Ellsbury to be our center fielder for many years to come. But I fear that's the way the Twins feel, too. There is still a chance, as the days in Nashville roll by, that the Minnesota club will not trade him at all. Much ado about nothing, as Will Shakespeare said long ago. Time will tell. It could be days, it could literally be minutes. It could have happened while I am typing this. If so, get ready for another rapid post!

Click on the title for a Boston Globe article containing all the details, and keep your fingers crossed on this cold Wednesday morning. Be safe!