BOSTON'S MARKET  —  BOSOX STILL LEAD IN JOHAN RACE  —  JOHAN Santana remains available.  The New York teams remain interested.  Yet, according to multiple executives spoken to yesterday, the Red Sox remain the strong favorite to obtain the star lefty if - and probably more likely, when - he is traded in the new year.

Mets show interest in Lieber  —  The Mets have touched base with representatives for several free-agent pitchers they consider fallback options if they are unable to land a marquee starter in a trade this winter.  —  One of those contingency arms apparently belongs to former Yankee righty Jon Lieber, according to agent Rex Gary.

Erstad to provide versatility, depth to Astros  —  2-time All-Star won Gold Gloves at first base, outfield  —  The Astros made another move to strengthen their bench Thursday, signing free-agent outfielder Darin Erstad to a one-year, $1 million contract with performance incentives.

Debate: Is Bert Blyleven a Hall of Famer? … Bert Blyleven has 287 wins and is fifth all time with 3,701 strikeouts.  But so far those numbers haven't gotten Blyleven elected to the Hall of Fame.  —  In this, his 11th year on the ballot, will Blyleven get enough votes to become part of the Class of 2008?

Source: Yanks tell Cano to pull out of winter ball … ORLANDO — The New York Yankees told second baseman Robinson Cano to stop playing winter ball, his Dominican Republic team told ESPNdeportes.com on Thursday.  —  “The Yankees sent a letter to Cano to stop playing, but they didn't offer …

Entertainer and Fighter Is Clemens's Lead Lawyer  —  Rusty Hardin, the Houston lawyer hired by Roger Clemens to defend him from claims he used performance-enhancing drugs, is a star of the Texas bar, a charmer of juries and journalists and a lawyer whose preparation and aggressive tactics draw …

Beauchamp, ex-Braves player and coach, dies  —  Former Braves player and coach Jim Beauchamp died Tuesday — Christmas Day — after a long battle with acute myelogenous leukemia.  He was 68.  —  Beauchamp was the bench coach for the Braves from 1991 to '98, a part of the team's World Series championship in 1995.

Castillo will get competition from Wood for third base  —  Jose Castillo had one goal in mind as he evaluated his opportunities for next season: Become an everyday player again.  —  The Pirates' second baseman from 2004-06, Castillo will get that chance as a third baseman with the Marlins …

ROGER PEDDLES TOUR DE FARCE  —  We get the Floyd Landis defense now from Roger Clemens, which means putting everybody else on trial.  Maybe it will work out better for Clemens than it did for Landis.  Maybe Clemens will still make it to Cooperstown, make all the money you can make as a Hall of Famer …

Magic '08 Ball  —  So you can't decide if you love or hate baseball these days, torn by a sport that's impossibly rich (a record $6 billion in revenue in 2007), popular (79.5 million in attendance, another record) but undermined by scandal (steroids).  —  Welcome to the ever-shifting tides …

Bowl Season Doesn't Officially Start Until Something Crazy Happens, Well Something Crazy Happened  —  Ladies and gentlemen I give you Texas' new favorite son, Chris.  Actually Chris is Mack Brown's stepson and boy oh boy are they going to love him if Texas loses this one.

Webb-Haren form most formidable duo  —  Dayn Perry is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com and author of the new book, “Winners: How Good Baseball Teams Become Great Ones” (Available now at Amazon.com).  —  The recent trade of Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks has revived …