Yankees set Monday deadline for Santana talks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The New York Yankees likely will pull out of trade talks for Johan Santana if the Minnesota Twins don’t make a decision by late Monday.”I’m not going to be played against the Red Sox. That’s not something I’ll do. That’s not something the Yankees should ever do, and that’s I think what they’re trying to do now,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said Sunday. “So if they want the best offer that has been offered to them, then they need to make up their minds.”The Yankees have proposed swapping pitcher Phil Hughes, center fielder Melky Cabrera and a midlevel prospect for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, who can become a free agent after next season.Boston also is competing to land Santana. The Red Sox are thought to have offered a package that would include pitcher Jon Lester or center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury but not both. Center fielder Coco Crisp also could be part of a trade.Steinbrenner wouldn’t set a specific time Monday for pulling out.”We’ll see how it goes, but this is not an act. It’s not a bluff. It’s just reality,” he said. “Because as much as I want Santana, and you can make that clear – for his sake, to know that I do want him – but the fact is that I’m not going to play the game. We’ve made them the best offer. And at this point, it’s not going to get any better. So they can decide. At this point, it’s up to them. I don’t think they want to lose us in this thing, obviously. Nobody wants to lose the Yankees in a negotiation.”A trade likely would have to be made on a conditional basis, giving the Yankees or Red Sox 72 hours to work out a new long-term contract for Santana, who is owed $13.25 million next season. Steinbrenner said the Yankees didn’t want to wait too long, miss out on Santana and then find out it was too late to get involved in talks for other pitchers, such as Oakland’s