BASEBALL ROUNDUP News and notes

Hughes hears trade rumors: Phil Hughes keeps hearing the trade rumors. If the Yankees acquire Johan Santana from Minnesota, Hughes would wind up with the Twins. “I try to avoid the rumors best I can, but you eventually here it from friends, family and the whole deal,” Hughes said after working out Friday at the Yankees’ minor league complex. “You never want to hear your name out there, but on the other side, at least it’s good to know that other teams think highly of you. I wouldn’t say tough winter, but definitely an interesting one.” Hughes, a 21-year-old right-hander, hasn’t talked with team officials in Tampa about the trade possibility since his named surfaced in talks in November.

What’s up with Santana? The Twins can’t escape the attention, not until the status of Santana is resolved. Pitching coach Rick Anderson was targeted twice by strangers during some Friday morning errands, posed the biggest question in baseball this winter not related to the Mitchell Report: “What’s going to happen with Santana?” Their earlier offer to extend his contract by four years and $80 million was rejected, leaving a trade the likeliest outcome to this saga. “I wake up in the morning and hurry up and open up the paper to see if anything happened,” said Anderson, who has tutored Santana since 2002. Santana has been in Venezuela since the regular season ended, but he recently arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., to start his workouts. In his first published comments this winter, Santana told the local newspaper that he didn’t know what to think about the situation. “I’m a Minnesota Twin. That’s all I know. It’s up to them. Whatever they have to do is going to happen. It has nothing to do with me at all,” Santana told the News-Press. “I said it from the beginning during the season last year, whatever will be the best for this team and this organization, I’ll agree with that.”

Friday’s moves: Brandon Backe and the Astros agreed to an $800,000, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. … Right-hander Chad Fox and the Cubs agreed to a minor league contract. … Less than two years removed from elbow ligament-replacement surgery, Eddie Guardado agreed with the Rangers on a $2 million, one-year contract that allows him to make an additional $4 million in performance bonuses. … Right-hander Matt Mantei and the Tigers agreed to a minor league contract. … Closer Chad Cordero and the Nationals agreed to a $6.2 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration.

Associated Press