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TwinCities.com:
CHARLEY WALTERS: Minnesota Twins could trade Santana within 10 days — The Twins, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees are not holding up the proposed trade of Twins pitcher Johan Santana. It's Santana, who is seeking $150 million over six years.
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Joel Sherman / New York Post:
JOHAN HAS METS ON HOLD — One major reason neither Livan Hernandez nor Kyle Lohse has signed yet is because they are waiting on the Mets, who in turn will not make a decision about Hernandez and Lohse until they find out for sure what the Twins are doing with Johan Santana.
NY Daily News:
Can't Spring ahead — Only 17 days until pitchers and catchers - do you know where your teams are? — It's been that kind of a sluggish winter in which the grade for the majority of GMs is still an incomplete. — Even the White Sox's Kenny Williams, who made some bold moves to address …
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John Harper / NY Daily News:
Mets are leavin' Livan on hold — Despite an apparent lack of movement in trade talks for Johan Santana, the Mets still are very much in pursuit of the Twins' lefthander, according to baseball sources. As a result, they are not likely to sign Livan Hernandez, or any other pitcher …
Discussion:
FakeTeams
John Harper / NY Daily News:
Hank: Don?t question Yanks' titles — Angered that Yankee integrity was called into question, Hank Steinbrenner spoke out this past week about the Mitchell Report that last month named 20 current or former Yankees as users of steroids or human growth hormone.
Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Bernie-Cashman feud heats up — Drove over to the Greentree Country Club in New Rochelle tonight to see Bernie Williams, who was helping raise money for Hillside Food Outreach. — The Journal News planned to cover the event anyway. But after hearing what Brian Cashman said about Williams …
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Jack Curry / New York Times:
A Bitter Rivalry Finds a Little Common Ground — WAYNE, N.J. — For 365 days each year, the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox are ferocious rivals. With offices that are only 206 miles apart, Brian Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees, and Theo Epstein, Cashman's counterpart with the Red Sox …
Mike Puma / New York Post:CASHMAN: JOHAN'S NOT THE KEY
Discussion:
Surviving Grady, The Chuck Knoblog, NorthJersey.com, WasWatching.com, NJ.com and SOX & Dawgs
Marty Noble / MLB.com:
Mailbag: The important statistics — MLB.com's Marty Noble answers Mets fans' questions — I enjoy reading your stories. You give straight answers to tough questions, and I look forward to your Mets mailbags. That being said, I have a comment about two recent stories dealing with Brian Schneider.
Discussion:
FIRE JOE MORGAN
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Washington Post:
Nationals' Lo Duca Injures Knee — Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca injured his left knee during a workout this week and is undergoing a series of tests to determine the severity of the problem, the club said yesterday. — Lo Duca, signed to a one-year, $5 million contract last month …
Discussion:
MLB Fleece Factor
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Atkins bringing surge into new season — The ache of Garrett Atkins' slumps, both with a glove and a bat, was numbed by two words: low and short. — Atkins, known for his pulseless poise, was hitting .220 on May 27, his skid growing more perplexing with each swing. In the field, his range became limited.
Discussion:
Purple Row
Tim Dierkes / MLB Trade Rumors:
Brian Bannister Q&A, Part 2 — Royals starter Brian Bannister was kind enough to answer questions for MLBTR readers. The first part of the Q&A can be found here. — MLBTR: What's the most misunderstood aspect of succeeding in baseball by typical fans, sportswriters, and announcers?
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Tim Dierkes / MLB Trade Rumors:
Brian Bannister Q&A, Part 1 — We've done some Q&As with players before - Curtis Granderson, Jason Hirsh, and Michael Barrett. This time, for our Brian Bannister Q&A, we had readers submit the questions. Brian really went the extra mile to accomodate, providing thoughtful and elaborate answers.
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Faith brings Texas Rangers' Hamilton back from the brink — egrant@dallasnews.com — SMITHFIELD, N.C. - Just past 8 a.m. on a gray Eastern Carolina Friday, Josh Hamilton's silver GMC truck, grinding gravel into grit, rumbles into the alley directly across Market Street from the Ava Gardner Museum.
Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
A Voice of Skepticism on the Impact of Steroids — One of the most influential baseball minds of the last 40 years is angry. And he is coming out of retirement to vent. — Fans may not know Eric Walker's name, but they know his handiwork. Walker was a National Public Radio correspondent …
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Bay disappointed by Pirates' lack of roster moves — GM responds that team ‘pursued many pieces,’ but found no fair value — Jason Bay happily signs autographs along with Neil Walker and Bob Friend at PirateFest at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center last night.
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