Cano could be the cost for Twins' Santana  —  Johan Santana is not yet officially on the trade market, but that seems to be an inevitability.  What isn't inevitable is that Santana, now property of the Twins, will begin his 2008 season somewhere besides the Metrodome.

2 FOR THE MONEY  —  BIG YANK OFFERS AT HAND FOR JORGE, MO  —  Within the next 48 hours, the Yankees are expected to make new contract offers to two of their biggest free agents.  —  The Yankees' exclusivity period with both Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera ends after tomorrow …

TV's King: Kent returning to Hollywood  —  Talk show host says infielder excited to play for Torre  —  One of the Dodgers' biggest offseason questions revolves around the future of incumbent second baseman Jeff Kent, who hasn't publicly said whether he would be back in 2008 at age 40 …

PAVANO ERROR NEARING END  —  The four-year, $39.95 million contract the Yankees gave Carl Pavano was a turkey.  Fittingly, he probably will be an ex-Yankee by Thanksgiving.  —  There is a strong likelihood the Yanks will release Pavano before Nov. 20 so that they can use his 40-man roster spot for a player valuable to their future.

In the projection room  —  Stat book gives '08 sneak preview  —  Jacoby Ellsbury is projected to bat .320 and steal 42 bases next season, according to the Bill James Handbook 2008, the kind of numbers that would make Ellsbury a strong candidate to be the American League's Rookie of the Year.

No gold mine in free agency has GMs wary  —  Talent burns like rocket fuel in sports, leaving the most challenging aspect improving a product or maintaining it.  A credit card used to be the solution, recruiting new players with promises of riches and great school systems.

Rangers should just go west, young men, go way, way, way West  —  A former Rangers executive once shook his head at the idea of looking to the West for free-agent help.  —  How far west?  So far west, actually, it was almost east.  —  "I doubt it," the front office man said.

Posada: "I want to stay with the Yankees"  —  Jorge Posada is at the Knicks game tonight and Journal News Knicks beat writer Mike Dougherty was able to snag him for an intervew at halftime.  —  Here is what Mike just e-mailed me:  —  Update on his situation: "We're working on it.

Phillies Sign Romero to 3-Year Extension  —  Deal for left-handed reliever includes club option for fourth year  —  Left-hander J.C. Romero signed a three-year, $12 million contract extension with the Phillies, Assistant General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced Saturday.

Just horsing around, Huff says  —  Radio remark on city put in show's context  —  Once word reached Aubrey Huff that comments he made during a radio appearance last week brought waves of criticism from Orioles fans, he immediately came up with a theory to explain all the unwanted attention headed his way.

Probabilistic Model of Range, Centerfielders, 2007  —  Here are the team rankings for centerfielders:  —  Team Centerfielder PMR, 2007, Visit Smooth Distance Model, 2007 data only  —  Team In Play Actual Outs Predicted Outs DER Predicted DER Ratio  —  Mariners  —  4535  —  452  —  423.84

Guaranteed to have the angst of your life  —  As a literature professor at Hofstra with a PhD from Yale, Dana Brand has spent his career studying the great authors who have shaped American thought and culture.  Now he has taken on a much deeper, thornier topic:  —  Why on Earth would anyone be a Mets fan?

Mets should stay clear of A-Rod  —  Just because the Mets have been playing this whole Alex Rodriguez flirtation very coyly, refusing to confirm whether they're in or out, no one should think for a moment that Fred Wilpon is going to become Scott (Avenging Agent) Boras' latest "one dumb owner."