Santana passes his physical  —  Mets to announce deal at 4:30 p.m. ET news conference  —  NEW YORK — Johan Santana was left on the Mets' doorstep on Tuesday by a trade and nudged closer on Friday, when he agreed to a $137.5 million contract extension and approved the trade, and he is now past the threshold.

Rauch, Nationals agree to contract  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Reliever Jon Rauch and the Washington Nationals agreed to a $3.2 million, two-year contract Saturday, avoiding arbitration.  —  The right-hander will make $1.2 million in 2008 and $2 million in 2009.

Kinsler, Rangers talk about long-term deal  —  ARLINGTON — Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler hopes he and the club can come to an agreement on a new, long-term contract.  —  There's still work to be done in getting there.  —  “It's a matter of coming to an agreement and trying to reach the right number …

Pirates, Sanchez close to agreement on three-year deal  —  Burnett taken off roster but likely to stay in system  —  The Pirates and Freddy Sanchez are close to agreement on a three-year contract and could have a deal early next week.  —  Such a contract would allow the team …

Yankees Spring Training quick hits  —  2007 record  —  Projected batting order  —  1. LF Johnny Damon:  —  .270 BA, .351 OBP, .396 SLG, 12 HRs, 63 RBIs in 2007  —  2. SS Derek Jeter:  —  .322 BA, .388 OBP, .452 SLG, 12 HRs, 73 RBIs in 2007  —  3. RF Bobby Abreu:

PECOTA's Back  —  Just a very quick note: the 2008 PECOTA weighted means spreadsheets are available for download here.  We've already run almost 1,900 forecasts, including (for the first time) players selected in last June's amateur draft.  —  The PECOTA cards themselves are still …

News: Santana to be Announced at 4:30 pm  —  The Mets will hold a conference call at 4:30 pm EDT to announce the official acquisition of LHP Johan Santana from the Twins.  —  ...i will be on the call, and will do my best to provide a few key notes while it is in progress...  ...Update...4:28 pm...

Stark's Latest  —  Another round of odds ‘n’ ends from Jayson Stark.  — 150 players as of Friday morning can still call themselves free-agents.  Sean Casey as a catcher?  Morgan Ensberg working at Home Depot?  Both have recently signed, but there are some desperate players out there now that the calendar's turned to February.

Reds sign Sauerbeck, Bako  —  Veterans agree to Minor League deals with spring invites  —  Nine years after beginning his Major League career in Pittsburgh, left-hander Scott Sauerbeck is trying to make his way back home.  —  The Cincinnati native and veteran reliever has signed …

Santana Passes Physical  —  Johan Santana's physical today apparently resulted in no problems.  The Mets announced that the star left-hander passed his physical which now should make the deal official.  —  Met executives will have a conference call later this afternoon.

Team Offense, Los Angeles Dodgers  —  We continue to look at team offenses for 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. … In 2007, the Dodgers scored 4.54 runs per game.  —  I plugged in a likely lineup to the Lineup Analysis Tool, using the Marcel the Monkey predictions from Tom Tango.

Cards look internally for leadoff man  —  Manager La Russa prizes on-base percentage at top of order  —  ST. LOUIS — In one form or another, satisfactorily or not, the Cardinals did check off just about every item from their offseason shopping list this winter.  They added a starting pitcher in Matt Clement.