There's a part of me - the part that savors a well-pitched 2-1 ballgame, the part that appreciates a Bugs Bunny changeup that instantly turns a slugger from ferocious to feeble - that was thrilled about the prospect of Johan Santana pitching for the Boston Red Sox in 2008 and beyond. In that sense, it's a small disappointment that his immense talent and admirable approach to the game will be some other fanbase's treat for the next few seasons, provided his left elbow remains sound.

This is an article I wrote earlier today for that fine Red Sox fan site I also write for, Bornintoit.com.

We've reached an exciting time of the year that many baseball fans always look forward to. Nope, it's not spring training. "The Hot Stove League" is in full swing. It's time for the Winter Meetings, and this year could very well be a very busy one.

The meetings begin on Monday in Nashville. A lot of clubs are looking for starting pitching help (you could argue EVERYONE is), and the sexiest name out there is one of baseball's best pitchers: Johan Santana.

Hey Sportsflow readers, I am back again for another baseball personnel post. FINALLY, Johan Santana is officially not a member of the Minnesota Twins. I can’t believe the Red Sox finally gave up Lester and Ellsbury to get it done! Wait… I mean, I couldn’t believe it when I heard the Yankees gave up Melky, Hughes, AND Kennedy. Damnit… the Mariners gave up Adam Jones and Sherrill?

Hey TSF readers, I am back to lay some more baseball insight into this fine fine blog. Back in July I wrote a post judging the trade deadline deals, and I'm back to look at what has gone on this offseason so far, and what could potentially take place.

Santana Mania

So the baseball season is officially into full swing now. After struggling early it seems like the predicted front runners are now a top of their division after a tumultuous start. Everyone except New Yorks duo of high paid and high powered teams. Yes you can throw the Tigers struggling in that mix too. But for Detroit this is new territory. They haven't been outright picked to be a World Series contender in years,while the Mets and Yankees have. As of May 7th both the Mets and Yankees are a combine one game over .500. The New York Mets are sitting at 17-15 and a 1.5 behind the surprising first place Florida Marlins. Johan Santana has only won three of his seven starts this season.

I was busy today watching that all-important matchup between the Red Sox and Mets today, which ended in a 1-1 tie after 10 innings. (A very well pitched game on both sides, especially by Jon Lester and Johan Santana.) I got a call late in the game from my dad in Florida, who asked me if I heard about Governor Eliot Spitzer. I said no, that I hadn't watched the news the entire day. I thought it might have been some kind of attempt on his life, as Spitzer isn't the most popular guy in NY State these days, as he has plenty of enemies in Albany and on Wall Street.

I turned on the news to see that reports came flying out today that Spitzer's in some real serious doo-doo, and his name is linked to some kind of prostitution ring.

Say good night, Eliot.

He probably wishes right now that someone had taken a shot at him. At least people would feel sorry for him.

The baseball world lost two pitchers over the last day who were part of two important championship teams in New York baseball history: Johnny Podres of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (pictured) and Don Cardwell of the 1969 New York Mets.

Johnny Podres will forever be remembered in baseball history as the pitcher who won Game 7 of the 1955 World Series, beating the Yankees, 2-0, and setting off wild celebrations as the borough of Brooklyn had its first and only championship. Podres, who was from upstate New York, was just in his third year with the Dodgers, and won just 9 games in 1955, but mowed down the Yankees and Tommy Byrne (who ironically just died last month) in that deciding game.

Things have been rather quiet this winter for the Red Sox, and it's probably been the most stress-free off-season for them that I can ever remember. (Winning World Series and signing your key free agents can do that.) There are a few questions still to be answered, and most are concerning the bench.

The Mets unveiled a new patch they will wear for all home games in the 2008 season. It is to commemorate the 45th and final year of Shea Stadium, as the Mets will be moving into Citi Field, which is being built across the Shea parking lot as we speak.

I like patches that teams wear on their sleeves to remember special anniversaries and the like. I do like this one, as it shows two versions of Shea, with the New York skyline in the background, and the years the stadium was in existence on the front. I liked it so much I put it on my blog, right above the "Mets Links" section.

Over the last few weeks, as spring training is just getting underway, I have heard over and over again about how the late-season collapse of the 2007 Mets was the "biggest choke in baseball history." I've heard it on the radio (WFAN naturally), and read it in the papers.

Let's get one thing straight here. The Mets collapse last year was simply awful and it was historic. And those who say it was the worst in baseball history are either Mets haters or just don't know their baseball facts.

It was not the worst collapse in history. Not by a long shot.

The worst collapse or choke in baseball history belongs to the boys who play across town. You may remember that the New York Yankees needed to win only one game out of four in the 2004 ALCS to take the pennant and go to the World Series. The Red Sox only staged the greatest comeback in postseason history to win the pennant, and went on to win the World Series.

The Red Sox announced their Spring Training schedule today. There are eight fewer games due to the Red Sox opening their regular season next year in Japan. They are also playing the majority of their Florida games at home in Ft. Myers at City of Palms Park. Here it is:

Feb. 28 Boston College (SS) City of Palms Park 1:05 p.m.
Feb. 28 Northeastern (SS) City of Palms Park 6:05 p.m.
Feb. 29 Twins Hammond Stadium 7:05 p.m.
March 1 Twins Hammond Stadium 1:05 p.m.
March 2 Twins City of Palms Park 1:05 p.m.
March 3 Marlins Jupiter 1:05 p.m.
March 4 Pirates City of Palms Park 1:05 p.m.
March 5 Reds City of Palms Park 1:05 p.m.
March 6 Dodgers City of Palms Park 1:05 p.m.

Well, it looks like that blowhard gene doesn't skip a generation after all.

Seriously, how much are you loving the Hank Steinbrenner Era? He's a Jennifer Love Hewitt-diggin', tabloid-courtin', droopy-joweled version of his old man, right down to the ubiquitous blue blazer. (What, no white turtleneck? Step it up, son!)

Yes, the Steinbrenner boy possesses that famous Steinbrenner bluster. Unfortunately for him, he hasn't quite mastered the art of the ultimatum quite like his dear ol' bloviating daddy did.

I was saddened to learn on Friday night that Karl Ehrhardt, the one-time fixture behind the third base dugout at Shea Stadium for Mets games from 1964-1981, passed away at his home in Queens at the age of 83.

Mr. Ehrhardt was always at Shea from as far back as I could remember as I was growing up with the Mets. The one-time Brooklyn Dodger fan and World War II German prisoner of war translator seemed to have a sign at the ready for every occasion and for almost every situation. I will remember fondly some of the signs he held up during the 1969 World Series, such as when the Mets were about to wrap it up, he held up at the Baltimore Orioles: "Bye Bye Birdies" and when Cleon Jones caught the final out of the Series and the Mets were the champions, an appropriate one went up: "There Are No Words."

East
1. NY Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals

The Mets were the best team in the National League for 5 ½ months last season before the collapse. This off-season they brought in the best pitcher of this generation without losing any contributing pieces from last season’s team. If Pedro Martinez is healthy you can expect to see the Mets' rotation be a strength whereas it was a major weakness heading into last season. Their lineup is headed by three potential MVP candidates in David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Carlos Beltran and should score enough runs to finish in the Top 10 in baseball again. Ultimately I think they’re the class of the NL and a solid tier above the contending Phillies and Braves. I think the Mets win the division handily on their way to a low 90’s win season and home-field advantage throughout the NL Playoffs.

Just a quickie here to let you know that I'm busting out the Fresca and Wheatables, planting my sorry you-know-what on the Official TATB Couch for three or so hours, and live blogging tonight's Pats-Bengals game. So be sure to stop by this address for a visit or two or 10 as you enjoy the Monday Night festivities. I can assure you that ol' Horst here will not be mentioned at any point (dude looks like a party, doesn't he?) but beyond that I'm not making any promises.

Couple of other items that crossed my filbert nut of a mind on the commute home tonight:

The Fox column is on hiatus until pitchers and catchers head south, yet I've still got baseball on the brain, so let's chase some headlines . . .

C.C. Sabathia beat out Josh Beckett to win the 2007 AL Cy Young Award today. They had very similar years, but I thought the vote total would be even closer than it was. Sabathia got 19 first place votes, while Beckett got 8. John Lackey finished third and Fausto Carmona finished fourth.

Here's the vote tally:

1st 2nd 3rdPoints
C.C. Sabathia Cleveland Indians 19 8 — 119
Josh Beckett Boston Red Sox 8 14 4 86
John Lackey Los Angeles Angels 1 5 16 36
Fausto Carmona Cleveland Indians — 1 4 7
Eric Bedard Baltimore Orioles — — 1 1
Roy Halladay Toronto Blue Jays — — 1 1

Mike Piazza made it official today, and announced his retirement, after 16 seasons, and in five years from now will surely be a first-ballot Hall of Fame election. No one signed Piazza after playing an injury-riddled final season with the A's last year, so he called it quits.

Piazza will go to Cooperstown as the player with the most home runs as a catcher. He was the dominant player at his position during the '90s, and led the Mets to the World Series in 2000. Not bad for a guy who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 62nd round of the draft as a favor to Tom Lasorda.

Piazza will be remembered for a lot of things, his mammoth home runs, his dustups with the Texas Con Man, Roger Clemens (more on that later), and many other things. But I will never forget, for the rest of my life, one night that involved Piazza that stands out among all of them.

Fire up the Hot Stove it's time to talk free agency in the world of Major League Baseball! I'm going to give you a list of top free agents ranked accordingly plus a small blurb on my thoughts on the player and where I think they'll wind up.

1. Alex Rodriguez - 3B
Who else did you think was going to be first? Expect to see a really high number wherever he lands as A-Rod's price tag reportedly starts at 10 years, $350 million.
Predicted Destination: Dodgers, Giants, Angels
2. Jorge Posada - C
Sure he's old, but the market for catchers is EXTREMELY thin this year. Word on the street is that the Yankees are offering 4 years at 52 million to wrap him up before he can even talk to other teams. That seems like a lot of money and a long period of time, but with Arod gone how else are the Yanks gunna spend their $$?!

Ah, another one of those letters in the newspapers.

Today, it comes from the New York Post's Sound Off column, where most of the letters were about Shelley Duncan's dirty slide and bench-clearing dustup last week at Tampa. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course.
But this one jumped out at me, and for two reasons:

Joe Girardi was right to tell his players to fight back against Tampa Bay or any other team that tries to play rough, especially in spring training games. That's the way to play ball-payback, always. Mike Piazza gave it the "laidback" California-dreamin' approach to Roger Clemens' beaning and bat-throwing during the 2000 season, and the Mets lost the World Series in five games. If Piazza would have gone out and twisted Clemens' arm out of its socket, the Rocket might have watched the World Series from a hospital bed. If Girardi plays it rough, he may even get a few of us Mets fans cheering him on.
Michael J. Gorman

Well, at least they got the cover right.

That was my reaction after taking an impromptu spin through the 2002 Baseball America Prospect Handbook the other night while avoiding any real work in my home office. The cover boy, as you might have noticed, happens to be the Red Sox' starting pitcher this afternoon. Josh Beckett* not only was rated the top prospect in the Marlins' system, but he was also the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball.

* - Stealing a Pozterisk yet again, here are two snippets from Beckett's writeup that jumped out at me:

1. "[Beckett] had a serious scare with two tours on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis in 2000. Offseason tests diagnosed two tears in his labrum, fraying in his rotator cuff, biceps tendinitis, and an impingement. Dr. James Andrews advised against surgery. Beckett worked hard to rehabilitate his shoulder in the winter, and came out firing." I think we now know why the Sox were terrified of his MRI before trading for him.

I saw this letter in today's New York Daily News' "Voice of the People" column, and had to comment on it. (It's always a great source of bizarre entertainment!)

Say Ay!
Bronx: Any person who doesn't believe having A-Rod on the Yankees is a great thing knows absolutely nothing about baseball. If Voicer Gisela Roubeck wants to be a Met fan, good riddance. And if Voicer Dave Carbray thinks the Red Sox will ever match the glorious history of the Yankees after a couple of good seasons, I think Bellevue has a room just for him. Joseph M. Hendon

Last night's midnight deadline came and went with no agreement reached between Mike Lowell and the Red Sox.

That could be a positive or a negative regarding a possible Lowell return. Both sides made it clear that the door has not been closed as far as Lowell resigning in Boston. The sticking point seems to be a fourth year, which the Red Sox seem to be reluctant to give. Lowell will be 37 at the end of a possible four year deal. (Compare this to what the Yankees just gave Jorge Posada. He will be 37 next season, and he just got a four-year deal with them. Giving a catcher a long term deal after the age of 35 is very risky, even if he just came off a great offensive year.)

Lowell and his agents want to see what's out there. There is a sure to be a team that will offer him four years, and the Phillies, Yankees and Angels come to mind.

More distractions for the Ottawa Senators, as word leaked out of Ottawa that Bryan Murray had held discussions with the San Jose Sharks, who were seeking out the services of Wade Redden.

TSN stirred up the hornet’s nest on Friday with a report that report, but with the additional information that Redden had not wavered from his no trade clause in his current agreement.

It marks the second time that his name has come up as a principle in a possible Senator trade, the last one a draft day deal that went south at the final stages.

While it’s expected that Bryan Murray will make a few deals before the trading deadline comes and goes on the 26th of February, it would seem that moving an asset such as Redden will be a tad problematic.

For his part, Redden is holding the majority of the cards, he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, so unless he’s traded off to a team that already has one hand on the Stanley Cup it seems unlikely that he’ll be getting fitted for a new sweater any time soon.

The Ottawa Senators added some playoff experience to their line up on Monday as they acquired two members of the Carolina Hurricanes 2006 championship team to add some depth to the Senators line up.
Ottawa sent Joe Corvo and Patrick Eaves to the Carolinas in exchange for Corey Stillman and Mike Commodore, both of the former Hurricanes are unrestricted free agents on July 1st, so in effect they become rent a players for the Senators playoff drive.
Stillman had to sign off on his no trade clause before the deal could be completed. He will be a solid addition to the Senators offence, providing a bit more of an offensive threat for a team that is already quite well stocked in that department.
Commodore a strong and tough minded defenceman will help to patrol the Senators end of the rink and make sure that other teams don't begin to take too many liberties with Ottawa players.

Ten free minutes for me, 10 free half-formed thoughts for you . . .

There's been a lot of hubbub in the New York papers this week over the fact that the Yankees signed actor/comedian Billy Crystal to a one-day contract to play in an exhibition game today at Tampa against the Pittsburgh. I've been hearing stuff like how the Yankees are "making a mockery of the game" and "disgracing their proud tradition" by doing this.

I say, "What's the big deal?"

They’ve run out of spoons at Sportsnet, as the day moves on the Sportsnet situation room (sure hope they ran that by Wolf Blitzer at CNN) we learn that they’ve laid in the yogurt but have no spoons for the hard working rumour chasers. Should have gone with yogurt tubes, poor planning at Sportsnet…

As for the situation room, we are given a quick tour of what’s available on the net for the dedicated trading deadline devotee, which features a number of links to different trade items.

Sportsnet doesn’t have a trade to report yet, but they do let us know that Mike Comrie is not going to be a deadline feature player this year, having just signed a contract extension with the Islanders.

By 715 at TSN James Duthie is reading viewer mail, taking e mails and recounting the thoughts of the viewers at home, a few more hours of this and they’ll be breaking out the phone books of the thirty NHL cities and naming the names.

There’s a Marian Hossa equipment update on TSN by 718, it’s still in his stall at the Bell Centre ready for use tonight, maybe to be moved over to the Montreal side or maybe to be moved out to parts unknown.

The Reporters discuss the state of the Anaheim Ducks and whether Brian Burke is going to make a move or two or if he’s happy with his line up as it is.