All Things Bubba

...until pitchers and catchers report. The time of year when a young man's (and woman's) fancy turns to baseball. Which means I'm getting more traffic. And more e-mails from fans wondering where Bubba will be playing this season. No news yet. Believe you me, as soon as I know, I will post it, both here and at Bubba-Crosby.com, as fast as my little fingers can type.

Baseball America's weekly transaction log went up today, later than usual because of the holiday. Not a whole lot of transactions. It really does seem to be slow this season.

They aren't too impressed with Jason Lane:

Lane hit .267/.316/.499 in regular play with the 2005 Astros, but it’s been downhill since. In two seasons since, he’s hit .201 and .175 but has managed 23 homers in 459 at-bats. Part of that is Minute Maid Park, but the 31-year-old Lane might be serviceable if the Yankees need righthanded power—a role Andy Phillips never was able to secure.

The Pirates have added Jaret Wright to their growing collection of former Yankees:

Wright is a long way from his fine 2004, after which he cashed in with the Yankees for three years and $21 million. He gave New York (and then Baltimore in 2007) an ERA of 5.08 in 214 1/3 total innings over the life of that deal.

Not one of Cashman's more brilliant moves.

And they have this to say about Sardinha:

Sardinha had a brutal season on the Yankees farm in 2007, getting sent back to Double-A and hitting just .222/.306/.387 in his Triple-A time. He got a big league callup in September, though, before being non-tendered after the season. He might make a good reserve outfielder down the road, as he offers natural hitting ability and athleticism.

Phil Rogers has some thoughts on the AL East today. He's delusional if he thinks the Yankees "botched" the Torre situation. They got exactly the outcome they wanted: they got rid of Torre without actually having to fire him.

He says the Yankees need a first baseman, and might trade Melky Cabrera and Juan Miranda to the White Sox for Paul Konerko and Juan Uribe or Mike MacDougal.

The Santana rumors are heating up again.

First of all, the Twins continue to talk to the Mets, Red Sox AND YANKEES about deals for Johan Santana. Despite the Yankees claiming that they are out of the running, I’ve been told the Twins have spoken with all three teams in recent days.

The Twins hope to get a deal done before spring training, but if it doesn't happen, they can still trade him during spring training.

And if anyone's seen Chuck Knoblauch, please let the federal marshals know:

Federal marshals unable to find, serve Knoblauch with subpoena

Former major leaguer Chuck Knoblauch had not been tracked down as of early Wednesday evening by federal marshals trying to serve him a subpoena from a House panel investigating steroids in baseball, a committee staffer told The Associated Press.

C'mon, Chuck. You're only ticking them off. Cooperate, and you'll get the Giambi treatment. Keep being a pain, and you'll get the Bonds treatment.