Yank Hank's deadline gets trampled on

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Twins people were said to be more amused than threatened by Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner's self-imposed deadline to complete a John Santana trade. In any case, that's about the time the Twins turned back toward the Red Sox.

That's when Minnesota asked Boston come up with its best proposal involving Lester. The Red Sox have been steadfast in declining to include Ellsbury with Lester and are expected to try find a combination without Ellsbury to make it work.

Boston hasn't heard from the Twins all day -- until a phone call just around midnight, after the Yankees balked at Minnesota's suggestion that either Kennedy or a tandem of both Alan Horne and Austin Jackson be included along with Hughes and Melky Cabrera.

Some people here think the Twins would be better off going with the Yankees' deal since it includes Hughes, who most view as No. 2 type starter in time. One AL GM summed it up this way: "Hughes is the best they're going to do.''

However, it's possible Twins people view it differently. The Red Sox have a fair amount of prospects, including pitchers Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden, and shortstop Jed Lowrie and outfielder Brandon Moss. Masterson wouldn't pitch in the bigs for Boston next year but he could be a candidate to make the jump in Minnesota.

Twins people also weren't taking Steinbrenner's Monday deadline seriously. One person said they were even openly "laughing'' about it since they liken it to Steinbrenner's hard stance that he wouldn't get back into the Alex Rodriguez negotiations, something he eventually did to the tune of $305 million ($275 million guaranteed).

Dodgers, Mets try for Bedard

The Mets and Dodgers are at the forefront of talks involving Orioles ace lefty Erik Bedard, but Baltimore president/GM Andy MacPhail is expected to take his time.

The Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays were also thought to have interest, but O's owner Peter Angelos had told people that he has no intention of trading Bedard within the division, meaning the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays can probably forget it.

The Mets offered a combination of outfielder Carlos Gomez, pitching prospect Phil Humber and reliever Aaron Heilman for Bedard and are believed willing to make adjustments if they have a realistic shot at landing Bedard (the two players the Mets will not trade are Jose Reyes and David Wright).

The Dodgers are very well-stocked in the minors, and several of their young players would interest Baltimore, including outfielder Matt Kemp, pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw and top reliever Jonathan Broxton. The Dodgers have been understandably reluctant to part with those highly-coveted young players, though.

Now not Minaya's time

In response to a report that Minaya was "thwarted'' in his bid to extend his contract beyond 2009, Minaya and his bosses said Monday he never requested an extension this winter. Now isn't the right time, not fresh off their big choke job.

But Minaya's Mets bosses say they are committed to him for the long haul, and it would take more than one historic collapse for that to change.

Around the Majors

• Bidding apparently is going wild on Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Word in the lobby was that he may get $45 million for three years. The Mariners and Royals -- yes, the Royals again -- are said to be among the many teams pursuing him.

• Freddy Garcia is drawing a lot of attention for a pitcher who won't be able to return until June, at the earliest. And why not? When healthy he's a winner, he's clutch and he's an innings-eater. The Mets are among the teams in pursuit of Garcia.

• Shawn Chacon is being considered by the Mets and the Rockies, his old team.

• This was the week to acquire outfielders whose stock has dropped. Following Lastings Milledge's trade to the Nationals were Carlos Quentin's trade to the White Sox and Elijah Dukes' trade to the Nationals (who are home for wayward outfielders). The deal for Dukes followed his latest blowup, and my guess is the Rays are happy to be rid of him. The Rays are considering character under the new regime, and that's a welcome change.