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.

Mets agree to deal with pitcher Sosa  —  Organization continues to avoid going to arbitration hearings  —  NEW YORK — With so much of their attention focused on Johan Santana, the Mets still were able to negotiate a contract with another player on Saturday.

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 …

Twins are building a contender — for 2010  —  Minnesota has a nice collection of young players who could turn into stars.  But that won't happen for a couple of years.  —  This is the year to expect big things from the Twins.  —  This is the year Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer …

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:

Lupica: Easy to see why Mets think Santana is final piece  —  PHOENIX - You can win because of this trade.  And if that is true, if Johan Santana puts the Mets over the way Curt Schilling put the Red Sox over the first time and then Josh Beckett put the Red Sox over this time …

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 …

Sean Casey a Sox!  —  I heard yesterday that we signed Sean Casey.  To have someone of his talent come here as a potential platoon player and role filler is huge.  —  I've known Sean and competed against him for a long time.  I think he's gotten the best of me more than I on him.

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.