Santana reportedly has informed the Twins he would not be willing to waive his no-trade clause after the season begins, which would take away Minnesota's option of waiting until the July trading deadline, when it could either weigh its chances of winning with Santana in the rotation or offering him up for bidding again.
Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, vice president of player personnel Ben Cherington, and manager Terry Francona arrived here last night on the same flight from Boston. Epstein had little to say, other than to caution it was possible the Sox would not be making any deals during the meetings, which officially begin today and end with Thursday's Rule 5 draft.
But in the meantime, the Sox and Yankees clearly were locked head-to-head in another historic competition for a premier talent, just as they have been in recent years for Cuban defector Jose Contreras, free agents Johnny Damon and Roger Clemens, and Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Steinbrenner told Newsday he expects the Yankees' offer - top pitching prospect Phil Hughes, outfielder Melky Cabrera, and another prospect - to trump whatever the Sox place on the table.
"I think our offer is the best offer," Steinbrenner told the newspaper.
"We have the best young pitchers in the game, even better than Boston."
But Steinbrenner was adamant about trying to protect the Yankees from having the price for Santana dictated by the Sox, which is why he is imposing a deadline.
"The truth of the matter is, they don't want to be stuck with only one team to deal with," Steinbrenner said. "If they're stuck with just Boston, they're going to get a lot less. I'm not going to be played.
"This is not a game. This is serious business. I'm not going to be played, us against the Red Sox. That's not going to happen."
