Santana not worth the tariff  —  Any contending team in a major market would want Johan Santana to anchor its starting rotation.  Yet the Minnesota Twins have not been able to trade the two-time Cy Young award winner despite months-long talks with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and more recently, the New York Mets.

Talks stall on trade for Roberts  —  With less than four weeks left before pitchers and catchers report to camp, the Cubs are still pushing hard to add players, but their long-running efforts to make a deal with the Baltimore Orioles may have hit a dead end.

Cano & Wang seek hefty raises; Yanks ink Betemit  —  The Yankees received bargain-rate production for most of the past three seasons from Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang.  —  No more.  —  The youthful Yanks want hefty pay raises more in line with the salaries of many of their veteran teammates in 2008 …

Name of Possible Witness Emerges in an Audiotape  —  For the past five years, it has been Jim Murray's job to tend to the needs of the New York-area clients of Hendricks Sports Management, the Texas agency that built its name on its representation of Roger Clemens.

Mets avoid arbitration with Heilman  —  Righty signs one-year deal; five others remain unsigned  —  NEW YORK — More gadgets and toys probably will find their way into the Mets' clubhouse this year.  Aaron Heilman, the electronics-obsessive pitcher called “Wall Street” by some of Mets teammates …

Youkilis gets help in arbitration process  —  Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who is seeking almost a tenfold increase in his salary through arbitration, didn't have to do anything to strengthen his case for a raise yesterday.  He left that up to his fellow first basemen.

A-Rod turns mentor for UM ballplayer  —  A UM ballplayer meets his idol — New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez — and gets to train with him  —  New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez is used to being followed by fans.  —  But one college-age kid who followed Rodriguez around …

Reds Sign Affeldt  —  According to Ken Rosenthal, the Reds signed southpaw Jeremy Affeldt to a one-year, $3MM deal plus performance bonuses.  First and foremost the Reds view him as a cheap rotation option, but they'll move him to the pen if it doesn't work out.  —  I'm very surprised that he signed for just one year.

Pen help on the way?  —  The White Sox are no strangers to pursuing relievers who recently wore the powder blue of the Kansas City Royals, but as of Friday afternoon, the club was keeping mum on reports that it had agreed on a two-year, $11 million contract with Octavio Dotel.

Seeking bigger role, Sosa won't return to Rangers  —  Sammy Sosa won't be back for another season in Texas.  —  Rangers GM Jon Daniels and Sosa's agent, Adam Katz, told ESPN.com on Friday night that Texas was interested in bringing Sosa back in a more limited role than last season.

Notes: Hardy, Bush submit figures  —  Anderson claimed off waivers; Arctic Tailgate set for Feb. 23  —  MILWAUKEE — Brewers shortstop J.J. Hardy and right-hander Dave Bush are each seeking about $3 million in arbitration according to figures filed Friday, the day on which eligible players and teams swapped contract proposals.

Steve Aschburner: It's the stats, stupid!  —  When Bill Clinton first ran for president in 1992, his campaign posted the now-famous slogan “It's the economy, stupid!” in its headquarters to keep the candidate and everyone around him on point about what the electorate truly cared about.  And it worked.

Rays paying it forward … ST. PETERSBURG - By giving more than $24-million over three years to Carlos Pena and going up to nearly $4-million for a one-year, arbitration-avoiding deal with Scott Kazmir, the Rays on Friday put two of their best players under contract for the upcoming season.