Well, the Twins aren't cooperating. Instead of being excited about the chance for yet another Minnesota star to come to Boston, they're dragging their feet on the inevitable Johan Santana trade. They now want Jacoby Ellsbury thrown in the mix, to counter Hank Steinbrenner's throwing-in of pitching prospect Phil Hughes. The Red Sox say maybe on Ellsbury, but that would mean no Jon Lester. The Yankees say if they don't hear from Minnesota soon, the offer's off the table. The Red Sox, for all we know, are still just in this to help pick Hank's pockets.

We're torn on this; the lure of Beckett-Santana 1-2 is totally captivating. But Ellsbury is like 17 years old, has already shown he can handle the spotlight, and can be our leadoff hitter for the next twelve years. Phenom pitchers come and go, but we already know Jacoby's the real deal. And signing the contract Santana will demand will close the book on the "Red Sox are the new Yankees" argument. But man, what a rotation that would be. It's a tough call. Stay tuned.

Also in the winter meetings, the Red Sox offered salary arbitration to Eric Gagne for some reason. Happily, they apparently are bringing back Mike Timlin for another year. They declined arbitration for Kielty, Hinske, Clayton and Mirabelli. Which doesn't mean they can't resign them. We still expect to see Miracle Mirabelli back for another year, but Royce Clayton may have to start scouting Taco Bell locations in yet another city soon.

The Celtics somehow survived a crummy game against a depleted Cleveland team. With LeBron James too injured to play, the Celtics took a deep breath - too deep, almost, as the first half was slow and painful and looked like everyone involved needed a big mug of black coffee and an energy muffin. Ray Allen finished with 20, though, and Glen Davis stepped up off the bench as the Celtics shook off the rust and polished off Cleveland in the second half.

The Patriots, you may know, are in Baltimore tonight to play a Ravens team with its usual inept offense and a surprisingly porous defense. And the Pats been listening to Coach Bill all week, no doubt bemoaning the win they suffered last week. Today's probably not a great day to be a Ravens fan, is all we're saying.

Worse day, though, to be a Miami Dolphins fan. While Dolphins past are nervously eyeing the Patriots, Dolphins present just got rolled by the Jets and are well on their way to an 0-16 season. Jets fans, meanwhile, can take comfort in the fact that although their season has been awful, they may win a couple and play their way into a worse draft pick.

Picture from Philocrites' awesome parade collection on Flickr.