While the Yanks (Hank Steinbrenner) say they’re out of the Johan Santana sweepstakes due to Monday’s deadline passing as The Winter Meetings in Nashville got underway, the Tigers made a big splash earlier today by completing a six-player blockbuster trade.

They acquired All-Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera and lefty starter Dontrelle Willis for a package which included top prospects Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller. Also included were three minor league pitchers plus catcher Mike Rabelo.

Maybin and Miller were the Tigers’ two best prospects who each saw time with the big club this past season. Now they’ll head down to southern Florida in the latest Marlins’ rebuilding project which still includes star shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

Analysis: The Tigers just became a lot better for the present in adding Manny Ramirez Lite in the 24 year-old Cabrera. They’ll hope for improvement from the 25 year-old Willis who struggled mightily winning just 10 games while walking 87, allowing 241 hits in 205-plus for a sub-5.00 ERA. If the former 2003 NL Rookie of The Year can get back to his 2005 form which saw him win 22 games and finish second for the NL Cy Young, then Detroit’s staff could be scary. Especially with ace Justin Verlander anchoring it along with Jeremy Bonderman and crafty veteran southpaw Kenny Rogers back.

The Tigers also acquired shortstop Edgar Renteria from Atlanta earlier this offseason which will give them yet another offensive component and a defensive upgrade in the middle infield which allows Carlos Guillen to shift to first. They also picked up OF Jacques Jones from the Cubs.

Would you want to pitch to this lineup? Looks like the Indians will have some pretty stiff competition in 2008 for the division.

Rumors:

A.With the Yanks looking out of the bidding for Santana due to the Twins’ insistence on top CF prospect Austin Jackson, it’s looking more and more like the Red Sox could land the soon to be 29 year-old two-time AL Cy Young winner for a package of four players including CF Coco Crisp, SP Jon Lester plus two prospects.

The big question is will the Twins ask for top CF prospect Jacoby Ellsbury instead of Lester? Boston won’t part with both. It says here that Ellsbury isn’t going anywhere and the Sahx will pull off a heist if this deal goes through. Those couple of prospects better turn out to be good.

B.According to an earlier WFAN report during Mike and The Mad Dog, the Dodgers and Orioles could be close to working out a deal for Baltimore ace lefty Erik Bedard. If LA is still willing to part with relief specialist Jonathan Broxton and OF prospect Matt Kemp, the 28 year-old Canadian who went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA while K-ing 221 in 182.0 innings could be Hollywood bound.

C.Oakland ace Dan Haren could still be on the block. A couple of years younger than Santana and a more affordable option, could the Yanks go after him? You have to figure the Mets are hoping to land the 27 year-old former St. Louis 2001 second round pick who was moved as part of a deal for Mark Mulder three winters ago.

Haren has started 34 games each in his three seasons by the Bay winning 14, 14 and 15 games. This past year, he went 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA while fanning 192 in 222-plus innings.