All Things Bubba

With no Bubba news to report, I've been going through the archives, finding older stuff to post. This photo is from 2005. No, it's not spring training. It's from batting practice during the regular season.

Meanwhile, on the hot stove...Santana talk is heating up again. Despite the "Yankees walking away from Santana" stuff that appeared in the media yesterday, Hank Steinbrenner says the Yanks are still in it:

New York Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner has not closed the door on a trade for Minnesota Twins left-hander Johan Santana.

"It's still in the deciding process," Steinbrenner said Monday night outside Legends Field at the Yankees' spring training complex. "We're still discussing it. There's still a little talk back and forth."

...Steinbrenner said reports that the Yankees recently withdrew a formal offer to the Twins are not true.

And the Twins seem to be getting just a little worried:

Are the Twins overplaying their hand in the Johan Santana trade talks?

It's possible. That thought came Monday, when ESPN.com ran the headline, "Source: Yankees again backing away from Santana."

If the Yankees ever truly reached the point of no return, it would theoretically cripple the Twins' leverage.

The article ends on an upbeat note, pointing out that the worst that could happen is Santana stays a Twin.

I don't buy it. The Twins want to deal Santana now, to get the most value for him. And after all the talk of stud prospects - Hughes, Ellsbury, Lester - getting a lesser return would be a huge disappointment. They might wait until spring training, but I think waiting until the trade deadline is a risk they won't take.

And speaking of spring training...the Yanks announced their list of spring training invitees, and SWB Yankees Blog has a rundown of each player's chances. He thinks Nick Green will make the roster.

There could of course be more players invited to spring training later.