The seemingly never-ending Johan Santana sweepstakes are set to come to a close. The ace, pending a contract extension, will be joining the New York Mets. Santana will immediately ascend to the top of the Mets' rotation and fills the gaping hole the Mets had in their rotation. Expect contract negotations to go smoothly, and Santana to be introduced at a press conference at Shea sometime next week after the Super Bowl.
Santana has won the AL Cy Young twice, and expect him to be nothing but brillant moving from the AL to the NL. I'm figuring seasons of 18-22 wins and low 2 ERAs with the difference between the AL and NL. Santana will also get more run support than he got in Minnesota, and he will also be pitching in a great pitchers' park next year in Shea. We will have to see what kind of park CitiField will be when it opens in 2009. That shouldn't matter though, as Santana is the best pitcher in the game.
Even though Santana is coming off his worst season, it was still a 15-13 season with a 3.33 ERA. It is hard to call a season where he finished fifth in the Cy Young voting bad. He is a brillant pitcher, and most importantly a can't miss. I know Mets' fans have been burned with good players coming to Shea and bombing, but this is an A+ player. He is not among the normal B-type players the Mets get that can't handle the New York pressure. So don't worry Mets fans! This is a move the Mets HAD to make.
The Mets really didn't give up all that much either. Considering the Mets' farm system is pretty light compared to what the Yankees and Red Sox had to offer, I'm surprised the Mets will get Santana without giving up Fernando Martinez or Mike Pelfrey. Carlos Gomez and Phil Humber may become nice players, but they aren't anything special like a Phil Hughes or Jon Lester could have been for the Twins. The Minnesota Twins have to be kicking themselves for not taking the Yankees or Red Sox offer back in November. Who knows if the Yankees and Red Sox still had those offers on the table this week. It could be that the Twins just didn't want to trade Santana within the American League.
Before this move, the Mets were sliding fast among the best teams in the National League. My early prediction is that they would finish third in the NL East had they gone into the season without an upgrade like this. The Mets couldn't go into the season relying too heavily on John Maine and Oliver Perez to win 15 games again. They also couldn't rely on anything big from Pedro Martinez. Now anything Pedro gives you is an added bonus. If any team REALLY needed Johan Santana, it was the New York Mets. Santana simply shoots the Mets up from fifth best or so in the NL to the clear favorites to represent the league in the World Series.
Pat Morgan
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2 comments:
I know he is awesome, but does one player really bump a team from fifth best to first? They still have Pedro, who could get hurt before the end of April, John Maine, an inconsistent Oliver Perez and the injury plagued Orlando Hernandez. My friend made a good point. When I asked if one player made a team clear favorites, he responded by saying that Johann is a pitcher that helps the Mets avoid long losing streaks. I agree. If we had him last year, we win the division. I'd love to add another arm. They were interested in Livan Hernandez. He would certainly give them innings, which I think the Mets need, considering their suspect bullpen. Nice post. Go Mets!!!!!
Normally I'd agree, but Santana gives the Mets exactly what they needed. They lacked an ace last year. They lacked that stopper that would have enabled them to hold on and win the East last year. The 3 playoff teams besides the 85 win Cubs were only separated by 1 game! And the Mets were one game behind that. They easily would have had three more wins last year with Santana.
Next year will be the same. The Mets are the best team of a very poor and even league. I figured 85 wins without Santana and a third place finish. Now I expect 92-94 wins and a first place finish. He will also allow for Maine and Perez to have most of their starts vs. other teams 3 and 4s. It also allows Duque to be a fantastic #5. He'll get hurt, but when he pitches he will be very good still. Anything you get out of Pedro is now a bonus.
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