Yanks: We have shot at Johan Santana  —  After what he described as a “slow holiday season” for baseball business, Hank Steinbrenner is returning to his office Thursday to begin working on “a final decision” regarding a trade for Johan Santana.  And he believes the Yankees have made the top offer for the Minnesota ace.

Marlins close to deal with Cantu  —  Versatile infielder would compete for third-base job  —  MIAMI — Shortly after the Marlins traded Miguel Cabrera to the Tigers last month at the Winter Meetings, Jorge Cantu was a name high on Florida's list to be a possible replacement at third base.

Youk charity effort inspired by.... ugly women?  —  Kevin Youkilis has always seemed like a relatively fun-loving guy.  He horses around with teammates, parties hard when it's appropriate and regularly gets made fun of for his, uh, stellar good looks, but seldom seems to mind.

Larkin mentors Dukes  —  Former All-Star preparing Nats outfielder for Spring Training  —  WASHINGTON — A few days before the Winter Meetings started in Nashville, Tenn., Nationals general manager Jim Bowden called Barry Larkin, his special assistant, to ask if Larkin had ever heard …

Santana affects Kielty's Sox future … Bobby Kielty, like the rest of the baseball world, spent another afternoon yesterday waiting for news of a Johan Santana trade.  —  Kielty, a former teammate of Santana in Minnesota, has a particular interest in any potential deal involving the Red Sox [team stats].

The Class of 2008  —  The Starting Pitchers  —  Once again, Ye Olde Winter Workload kept me from reaching the pitchers' portion of the Hall of Fame ballot before the arrival of the New Year, not to mention the December 31 deadline for postmarking ballots.  Nonetheless, with the election results …

Leyritz squandered millions on booze, records show  —  Troubled ex-Yankee Jim Leyritz burned through thousands of dollars by buying high-priced booze and partying at expensive nightclubs, court papers reveal.  —  The glimpse into Leyritz's 2003 financial records shows he spent large amounts …

The Most Feared Hitter in Baseball  —  One thing I keep reading regarding the Hall of Fame candidacy of Jim Rice is that he was widely regarded as the dominant hitter in baseball, or “The Most Feared Hitter in the Game” for most of his career, 1975-1986.  One way of measuring how feared …

Hot Stove Report  —  Breaking down baseball's off-season ... so far  —  The Hot Stove season isn't dead yet.  Things can and often do happen in January and February (see A-Rod to the Yankees, 2004)  —  But when the best available free-agent hitters are either facing a federal trial …

Oakland Athletics Top 20 for 2008  —  John sent me this to post.  He says that the book should be done tomorrow, although we will need a few days to edit and make final grade changes.  Almost there!!  We will start posting Top 20s at an accellerated pace tomorrow, so hold on!

The Pozcars Results!  —  I was going to begin this post by listing off all the things are as fun as tallying up Pozcars ballots, but ... actually, I just did.  There are more painful ways to punish yourself, I'm sure, than creating a fake award and then totaling by hand (or by spreadsheet) the 254 voters.

Take the fifth: Examining bottom starters' impact  —  How do No. 5 starters contribute to a club?  By definition, the fifth rotation slot is for the team's worst starter.  Given the current cost of pitching, the ability to put five quality starters in the rotation is difficult.