In what may be a calculated response to Hank Steinbrenner's ultimatum that a deal to acquire the Twins' Johan Santana must be agreed to by Monday, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein took the opposite approach. Epstein refused to discuss Santana specifically and said that the Red Sox have no plans to put a deadline on any trade discussions. "I think we've only done that when we thought it was in our best interest," Epstein said. "We don't have current discussions ongoing for which I think that would be in our best interest. We're pretty content with where we are and we don't think anything major is getting held up." Steinbrenner has publicly acknowledged offering Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera and a lower-level prospect for Santana. The Red Sox have reportedly offered only one of their top prospects: Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz or Jacoby Ellsbury. "There's a natural order of things this winter and we're just going to let it play out," Epstein said. "If we think the dynamic changes or our interest changes, we certainly wouldn't hesitate to put a timetable on something or other. But this doesn't apply right now."