In a report for the New York Post, George King quotes Hank Steinbrenner as having one regret while running the Yankees alongside his brother Hal and Brian Cashman:

I should have pushed harder for the [Johan] Santana deal.

King goes on to say that Hank was talked out of the deal by Hal and Cashman, who believed that the cost in talent (Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy) and money was too high for Santana.

It’s very difficult to determine whether the cost for a player will appear to be too high down the road, even if the price seems steep today.  Johan Santana got a 6-year, $137.5 million extension with the Mets, and pitched himself to a 16-7 record (although he deserved better) with 3 complete games, 2 of which were shutouts while posting a league best 2.53 ERA.

CC Sabathia, who is clearly an extraordinary regular-season pitcher, has thus far failed to come close to duplicating that success in the postseason, and despite that, it is widely believed that $137.5 million will just be the start of the conversation with his agent.

My point?  It’s clear that Johan’s contract has become an absolute bargain, and I’m glad we got him for the price (in talent and dollars) that we did.  This also could help one argue the possible high price, many year signings of Manny Ramirez and Francisco Rodriguez, as either deal may appear low-cost by the market’s standards in just a year or two.

By the way, Melky Cabrera hit .249 this year in 414 ABs, with 8 HRs and 37 RBI while Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes started a combined 17 games for the Yanks and won a total of zero.

Toasted Joe relays word down from Mount Hankee, where he questions the validity of Red Sox nation.

“Red Sox Nation?” Hank says. “What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.”

Head over to Yes Joe, It’s Toasted for the Met fans view on how Hank will provide us all with endless entertainment this season.

Here’s same chatter from around the web about the on-going extension talks between the Mets and Johan Santana:

• For his blog at ESPN, Buster Olney writes how Santana and his agent are going force a blank check out of the Mets.
• The AP writes how the Mets have a good relationship with Santana’s agent Peter Greenberg who represents Jose Reyes and Endy Chavez.
• For the New York Post, Mark Hale and Joel Sherman write that you shouldn’t expect the talks to hit a snag.
• In the Daily News, Andy Mccarron quotes Hank Steinbrenner as saying it was a great move for the Mets.

In an entertaining article for Yahoo!,  Jeff Passan writes some New Year’s resolutions for people in the baseball world.

Some of the more entertaining and notable ones are:

• Hank Steinbrenner: I resolve to rehire George Costanza. He would get the Santana trade done.
• Paul Lo Duca: I resolve to use personal stationery for all future steroid purchases
• Willie Randolph: I resolve to win the National League East.
• Jimmy Rollins: I resolve to make Willie Randolph look like a fool again.

Very amusing, definitely the whole thing is a must read considering that the news is very slow, and this is pretty witty.  Check it out.

La Velle E. Neal III at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the Twins are upset with Hank Steinbrenner making public statements regarding their negotiations. Steinbrenner discussing Johan Santana could be viewed as tampering, as he is currently under contract with the Twins.

Neal also writes that the report that Santana will only waive his no-trade clause to go to the Yankees or Red Sox is untrue and Santana has not limited the teams he would go to yet.