The Twins still want Ian Kennedy. The Yanks still won’t, rightfully, surrender two young pitchers in this deal. Thus, Jayson Stark believes that the Yanks will pull out of the trade talks for good momentarily. I have no idea how any announcement will come, but you can still support saving the Big Three. They are all still on the Yanks. For now.

Jon Heyman reports right now it’s more likely than not that Santana will be traded and that we’ll find out late Monday if a trade is going down. We will of course have all the latest news on Johan Santana including when he goes to the bathroom and what he had for breakfast. But not really.

Johan Santana will accept a trade to only the Yanks or the Red Sox. Meanwhile, Eric Bedard should be traded now that he has told the Orioles that he won’t be staying in Baltimore after 2009. That’s not a bad fallback should Santana fall through. Carry on.

Will Carroll, starting up the BP Winter Meetings rumor mill, chimes in on Santana:

The Yankees are going to have to offer more than what they have on the table. The team thought putting Phil Hughes on the table was enough, but the Twins aren’t selling Johan Santana for anything less than three major-league ready prospects.

Take that for what you will, but if it’s completely accurate, I hope the Yanks just walk away from what is quickly becoming a trade farce.

In the same piece in which he notes that the Red Sox may include Jacoby Ellsbury in a deal with the Twins, Buster Olney reports that the Yanks may set a Tuesday deadline for their current trade offer. So it seems that, one way or another, this drama will play itself out over the next 48 hours.

The Twins and Yanks have entered into preliminary talks on Johan Santana. In the words of Hank, it’s too early to tell if a deal will be made, but the two sides have begun the dance. I just hope don’t see another top prospect shipped off in a bad trade.

Johan Santana, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, wants Barry Zito-like money. He’s asking for seven years and at least $126 million. While the Twins seem destined to trade Santana, I think that Santana will be a stronger position with regards to other teams’ finances after 2008. Following next season, the Yanks will have Giambi, Mussina and potentially Pettitte off the books. The Red Sox won’t be paying Manny Ramirez or Curt Schilling. This could lead to a bidding war of epic proportions.