For most people, the biggest pitching development of the past week was probably the $19.75 million contract David Price accepted from Detroit for next season. For me, though, the biggest and most gratifying pitching development was the two innings Johan Santana pitched in a Venezuelan winter league playoff game.

That Santana pitched two innings was terrific in itself; that he retired all six batters he faced with only 17 pitches was better than even he could have hoped for.

“And the two innings were in a stressful situation,” said a veteran scout who is familiar with Santana from his major league days.

Given his last few seasons, the left-handed pitcher could easily have fallen off baseball’s players’ map, but he is back, healthy, pitching again and intent on re-establishing himself as a major league starting pitcher. Barring another mishap, Santana will most likely be signed …

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Not to belabor Hall of Fame voting, but one aspect of this year’s balloting was intriguing for its peculiarity, stemming from the votes for Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds.

In their three years on the ballot, neither steroids-stained superstar has fared well. Both have attracted voting percentages in the mid-30s, far below the 75 percent required for entry into the Hall, their number of votes obviously affected by their entanglement with performance-enhancing drugs.

If writers were to react to the pair’s similar status as superstars and PED-poppers, they would be expected to withhold votes from both. If, on the other hand, they chose to ignore the players’ cheating and vote for them on their playing merits, the writers would be expected to vote for both.

In either case, Clemens and Bonds would be expected to …

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When the 2013 season was over and the commissioner’s office had done all of the computations, the Yankees and the Dodgers were 1-2 in the ever popular payroll standings. It was the 12th successive season the Yankees were No. 1. That year, however, they edged the Dodgers by only $14,664.

This year it wasn’t close, and it wasn’t the Yankees who were No. 1. The Dodgers’ payroll was $257 million, a major league record, and the Yankees were second at $232 million.

The last time the Yankees were not No. 1 was 2001. They were third that year with a $109.4 million payroll behind Boston’s $109.5 million and the Dodgers’ $110.3 million.

The Dodgers’ resurgent spending has come under the team’s new ownership, led by …

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