MY BASEBALL BIAS

The Yankees made a few minor league moves today. Second baseman Bernie Castro and third baseman Cody Ransom have been signed to minor league deals and will probabaly start the year at Triple-A.

Also, INF Andy Cannizaro has signed with the Rays and pitcher Chris Farley has left for the Athletics.

Check out Chad Jenning’s SWB Yankees Blog for more info on Castro and Ransom.

Some quick news here from PeteAbe. Cather Jose Molina was signed today to a two-year deal, probably worth a total of $4 million which was reported a few weeks back.

Also, first baseman Andy Phillips was designated for assignment to make room for Molina on the 40-man roster.

When Hank-Stein said last night that they had the best offer on the table for Santana, even better than the package that Boston put together, you had to know that the fat-boy up North was just licking his chops.

Well, without further ado, I give you Curt Schilling’s rebuttal to Stein’s remarks:

If we make the move we’ll have done so with Theo knowing whatever he had to trade to acquire him he can restock those spots either from within, or via trade. How much is too much when you’re talking about trading for the best left handed pitcher in the game? How much is too much when you consider what he and Josh could do over the next 5-6 years.

Whatever is too much I am more than confident that we won’t get there. Based on the offers I know are out there I can’t see anyone out bidding us talent wise.

Listen, Jon Lester is a quality pitcher, but no one in baseball pegs him as a top of the rotation talent. Jacoby is a nice little player, but with only 40 or so at-bats under his belt, who knows what type of major league outfielder he’ll become.

Phil Hughes, on the other hand, has been talked about by baseball types as a guy that can lead a rotation. A true number one. And Melky Cabrera isn’t some second-rate center fielder and he’s certainly more accomplished in his career than Ellsbury is.

If the Red Sox line-up Crisp, Ellsbury, Buchholz, Lester, Lowrie, Masterson, Bowden or Cox, the Yankees can counter with Hughes, Cabrera, Kennedy, Chamberlain, Jackson, Tabata, Miranda, Horne and Marquez.

For Curt to say that “I can’t see anyone out bidding us talent wise” is just preposterous.

What an idiot.

From PeteAbe:

Just received an e-mail back from Randy Hendricks.

Andy Pettitte will play for his original $16 million next season. There are no options. He decided on Saturday, they talked it over on Sunday and now it’s done.

2008 will probably be Pettitte’s swan song. It is comforting to know that the Yankees now have at least two pitchers, Pettitte and Wang, who can give them 200+ innings and at least 15 wins. I’m not saying that one of the kids couldn’t accomplish that, but I expect the Yankees will limit their innings through the course of the year.

If the Santana deal ends up working out, that could give the Yankees three starting pitchers who can accomplish the 200+ IP and 15 wins model.

The last Yankees staff to accomplish that feat was in 2003 and playing in the World Series against the Florida Marlins:

• Roger Clemens - 211.7 IP | 17 wins
• Andy Pettitte - 208.3 IP | 21 wins
• Mike Mussina - 214.7 IP | 17 wins
• David Wells - 213.0 IP | 15 wins

More updates to come.

Did Hank Steinbrenner break baseball’s tampering rules when he discussed Johan Santana to the papers?

One reporter in Minnesota thinks so:

Baseball’s tampering rules prohibit officials from publicly discussing other teams’ players. Last night, Hank told the AP, “As much as I want Santana, and you can make that clear — for his sake, to know that I do want him — the fact is that I’m not going to play the game.”

Blatant tampering. Most baseball officials won’t go into specifics about trade discussions.

It is unclear, however, whether Hank will eventually be cited for his conduct. I’m sure there are a few baseball officials, other than those in the Twins organization, that aren’t happy with Hank at the moment.

Gotta love ‘em though. He shoots from the hip.

Lots to get to:

• My buddy Ian of Sox and Dawgs just sent me an article from the Minnesota Star Tribune that says the Twins are none to happy that Hank Steinbrenner has gone to the press about a deal for Johan Santana (in case you’re living under a rock, here are Hank-Stein’s comments from last night). An officil in the Twins organization stated simply: “We’re not happy. We’ll deal with this internally.” There’s also an issue as to whether Hank-Stein’s comments constituted tampering.

• Reports that Santana has said he will only accept a deal to the Red Sox or Yankees appear to be false. Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg stated today that “Johan told me to tell you that’s completely inaccurate. He’s upset about that. He’s put no limitations on (Twins GM Bill Smith) to do his job.” I think Santana is just covering all his bases, making sure he’s being a model employee. He has $150 million reasons to play nice.

• The Daily News reports that if talks fall through on Santana, the Yankees will turn their attention to Dan Haren. However, A’s GM Billy Beane asking price is higher for Haren that it is Santana (possibly two of the three young guys (Chamberlain, Kennedy and/or Hughes). Haren would come at a significant bargain as he’s only owed 16.25 million over the next three years. If the price on Haren is too steep, the Brewers may be looking to sell off pitchers Ben Sheets and Chris Capuano.

• Ken Rosenthal reports that Yankees are showing interest in reliever Octavio Dotel again.

• The Dodgers are aggressively pursuing free agent center-fielder Andruw Jones.

• Why do the Twins rate Jacoby Ellsbury as a better prospect than Phil Hughes? That’s just plain silly. Ellsbury is a nice player, but come on.

• Five new names were voted into the Hall of Fame by the veteran’s committee.

Back with more in a bit.

No, not me, but maybe the next best thing. Below is press release from Gotham Baseball Live and Talking Baseball Live who will broadcast “LIVE” from the Winter Meetings. If you have some free time, check them out.

Also, remember to catch Ian of Sox and Dawgs, Anthony of the Oriole Post and I live every Wednesday Night from 700-800 PM ET as we host our own live baseball program called ‘The Hits Keep Coming’. Check out our website for more details.

Exclusive LIVE Broadcasts from the 2007 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings

Both Gotham Baseball Live and Talking Baseball Live will be broadcasting live from Nashville at the Winter Meetings. Coverage begins Sunday night and continues through Wednesday. As a MLB fan, you and your readers will not want to miss these LIVE shows. Help us spread the word.

The special event for Monday night includes LIVE play-by-play of the 1st Expert Fantasy Baseball Draft (including people From FoxSports.com, MLB.com, Rotowire.com, and more) with Mock Draft Central at 7:30pm ET.

Both Gotham Baseball Live and Talking Baseball Live are live, interactive Internet broadcasts hosted on BlogTalkRadio. Archives of the shows are available at the host page or via RSS subscription at the host page or iTunes.

Links:
Schedule of broadcasts: http://blog.blogtalkradio.com/2007/12/01/the-major-league-baseball-winter-meetings/
GBL Host Page: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nybaseballtalk
TBL Host Page: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fantasybaseballguy