Media continues to play games with us

Hello. Just when I thought all the buzz between the Twins and Yankees appeared dead, Hank Steinbrenner delivers another message that made people optimistic of a potential trade that would involve the Twins sending Johan Santana to the Bronx with Phil Hughes coming to the "Land of 10,000 Lakes".

There seems to be a lot of confidence coming from Steinbrenner as this is what he had to say in a phone interview with New York Daily News:

"I think the Twins realize our offer is the best one," Steinbrenner said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "I feel confident they're not going to trade him before checking with us one last time and I think they think we've already made the best offer."

He also said that the deal does not include two of Hughes, Ian Kennedy or Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain's supposedly untouchable. Kennedy's name has come up a little bit, but it's unlikely for him to be the headline of a deal. Hughes' name has been in nearly every trade rumor with the Yankees, so he's the most likely.

Another game the media has said is surrounding a potential deal with the Mets. Mike Francesa said on WFAN that the Twins are still insisting on Jose Reyes in a deal with Santana. Well the Twins are going to not trade Santana if that's what they're insisting on because Mets GM Omar Minaya has consistently said that the Mets will not trade Reyes this off-season under any circumstances.

Later on WFAN, SI.com's Jon Heyman said this about the Mets (click the link for access to the audio):

"Some Mets people feel they have made the best offer. From what I've heard, they've basically told the Twins they can have any four players out of their system. Not Reyes, not Wright, not the Major Leaguers but any four players who were minor leaguers at some point last season meaning Pelfrey, and Mulvey, and Gomez, and Martinez...Any four."

If that's the case, I'd ask for Fernando Martinez, Carlos Gomez, Mike Pelfrey and Deolis Guerra. Mike Mulvey and Phil Humber would also be interesting pitching prospects that the Twins would be interested in. Make sure to check out the audio clip.

ESPN's Keith Law (sorry, ESPN insider is required) is saying that the Mets will not trade Martinez for Santana. His reasoning is ridiculous because he said that's it's just "one year of Santana", however whichever team that acquires him, will ask for a 72-hour window of negotiation on a new contract. So "one year of Santana" is wrong.

Let me guess, tomorrow the media will let us know that the Red Sox may actually include both Jon Lester & Jacoby Ellsbury in a deal, or maybe they'll say that the Yankees are out of it again. I'm not sure if anything will really surprise me, in regards to this trade.

For those that are interested, make sure to check these out:

• Seth Speaks shows us where the (rumored) players involved in the trade talks would stack up (prospect wise) in the organization. It's a great list, so make sure to check it out.

• Aaron Gleeman gives us his thoughts on turning 25.

• Roger gives us a look at this years Pitching rotations and Bullpen situations from Triple-A through the Dominican Summer League. It's a must read for those of you that want to get a look at the 2008 season for the Twins Minor League Affiliates.

• Also a bit of news concerning the Twins. Division rivals the Chicago White Sox made a risky trade that would send three of their top prospects to the Oakland Athletics for outfielder/first baseman Nick Swisher. Swisher played 60 games in center field in '07 (the most of any other position), however he's not viewed as a reliable everyday center fielder. That may change with time, however the White Sox are mortgaging the future of their pitching rotation and their team in general this off-season. They've gotten rid of Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos in the Swisher deal (as well as Ryan Sweeney). They also traded Jon Garland to the Los Angeles Angels for shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Now, this is not a knock on Swisher who I actually enjoy watching, however they made a lot of moves to upgrade positions that were not particularly weak to begin with without really properly filling their holes. And on top of the add of Swisher who is a corner outfielder/first baseman, they also traded away top slugging prospect Chris Carter for Carlos Quentin who is also a corner outfielder. Sure, the White Sox got stronger on offense, however it still won't match up with the Tigers and their pitching is looking like it could potentially be the worse in the division. Yes, that's including the Royals who might sign Bartolo Colon.