Tag: Johan Santana

Johan Santana Out Of World Baseball Classic

Word came from Port St. Lucie today that Johan Santana won’t be representing Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He had arthriscopic surgery on his left knee shortly after last season ended. The story from Adam Rubin of the Daily News is that the Mets asked him not to participate.

WBC Photo Day: Venezuela

I’m not a huge fan of the WBC, particularly because of the timing during spring training. Not that there’s a good time for an event like this. But I think it would be better if they played after the MLB season ended. Sure, it would be anti-climactic after the World Series. But it would give players a chance to rest afterward before the next season started, and reduce the injury concerns that MLB teams have about the event.

Frankly, it’s hard for me to understand how a team could let its best player like Johan Santana participate at all in this kind of event. The only incentive appears to be MLB’s desire to see this thing succeed. I wouldn’t want Santana playing if he had a hang nail after last season ended, much less knee surgery.

Santana’s a durable player. But if he, somehow, was seriously injured during the WBC it would have such serious ramifications for the Mets season. Each team should be able to select one or two players that they reserve not to play in the tournament. The financial commitments to the top players in baseball should preclude them from participation in WBC, which is essentially a meaningless exhibition.

Report: Santana May Be Asked To Leave WBC

Johan Santana on May 17, 2008
Image via Wikipedia

In a report for the NY Times, Ben Shipgel relays some quotes from Mets GM Omar Minaya about Johan Santana’s participation in the World Baseball Classic. Apparently, the issue here is that Santana had a very minor knee surgery after the 2008 season ended to repair torn meniscus in his left knee.

From Minaya:

He should be O.K., but we’re going to be conservative. If we have a little bit of doubt or concern, we’d rather have him not play. We’re pro-Classic, but we always have to be mindful and protective of our players.

We don’t want to have him be in the heat of the battle in early March when he’s coming off a minor surgery. It’s minor, but it’s still surgery. We will have to use precaution.

As I’ve written before, I’m not a huge fan of the WBC. So I’d be happy if the Mets didn’t allow any of their players to participate. The risk of injury to play in this tournament is too great and provides no benefit to the clubs.

Minaya might as well come out and say he’s looking for any excuse possible to keep Santana from playing in the tournament. Santana’s the best pitcher in baseball right now and if he got hurt in a meaningless tournament, it would have a devastating impact on the 2009 season.

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Mets 2008 Off-Season Needs: Starting Pitching

You probably thought my next off-season needs post would be the bullpen. Yes, that post is coming soon. It’s almost too much to think about though. So for now, let’s talk about the starting pitching situation.

Returning starters Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine will be in the rotation. Santana is a shut-down ace and really requires no further discussion. He’ll be starting on opening day in Cincinnati, period. Pelfrey had a break out season in 2008 and should be the #2 behind Santana. He seemed to run out of gas a bit in September but really found himself in May.

John Maine is coming off shoulder surgery to address a bone spur. He’s cleared to start throwing again in December and should be fine for spring training. I really thought he was going to have a break out season after being nearly unhittable in spring training. But the injuries really damaged his season.

Pedro Martinez and Oliver Perez will both be free agents after the World Series ends. I don’t expect to see Pedro back again. And Ollie will probably get a better offer than he’s worth from someone other than the Mets. If Omar Minaya can make a decent deal with Ollie and Scott Boras (doubtful) in the neighborhood of 3-years/$27 million, he should take it. But I think some team out there will go to four or five years for Ollie because he’s only going to be 27 years old during the 2009 season.

That leaves two openings to be filled in the rotation. Expect Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell to get a shot to compete for one of those spots in spring training. One of those two promising minor leaguers should get a chance to occupy the #5 spot in the rotation.

The Mets will probably look to fill a #4 spot from free agency and take a chance on a “project” starter as insurance in case Niese and Parnell aren’t ready for the majors yet. You can see the complete list of starters that will be free agents next month at MLB Trade Rumors. Beyond CC Sabathia (17-10 2.70) and Ben Sheets (13-9 3.09), the list isn’t really that impressive. Don’t expect the Mets to splurge on another ace like those two. They got Johan Santana last off-season. So I don’t see the Mets making another huge financial commitment to a starter.

A.J. Burnett (18-10 4.07) will probably opt out of his Blue Jays contract. But he’ll be looking for a long-term deal and I don’t expect the Mets to get into a 4+ year deal with any pitchers at this point.

There are several guys that could fit nicely into the middle of the rotation like Derek Lowe (14-11 3.24). Despite the rumors that he doesn’t want to be on the east coast again, he’ll go where the money is. He’ll be 36 years old next season but he could certainly fill the spot in the middle of the rotation. Jon Garland (14-8 4.90) and Ryan Dempster (17-6 4.51) are certainly worth talking to about a three year contract as well.

The “project” pitcher that the Mets pick up on a one-year deal could be anyone from Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Carl Pavano, Matt Clement, or Sidney Ponson. The tricky part will be finding a pitcher that will agree to a minor league contract so the Mets can give Parnell and Niese a legitimate shot at the fifth spot in the rotation. Colon and Clement seem the most likely candidates to agree to start the season in the minors.

Even with Pedro and Ollie probably leaving there are plenty of free agent options available this off-season. I certainly wouldn’t like to see the Mets get into a contract longer than three years for a middle of the rotation starter. That should be the key criteria, even if the contract has to get into the $33 million plus range. Gil Meche and Ted Lilly both got five year deals, so that throws off the market. But the Mets really need to keep their contracts to as short a term as possible.

Add a comment below with your thoughts.

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Mets Santana Has Knee Surgery

Today Johan Santana got his knee scoped for torn cartilage. Apparently, it was the result of normal wear and tear not an injury that occurred during the season. He knew that his knee was bothering him during the last month of the season but told team trainers that he didn’t want to know how bad it was. The word is that he told the Mets training staff that the only way he wasn’t finishing out the season was if he went to the hospital in an ambulance.

The Mets picked the right guy to give a monster contract to: a great player and no excuses.

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Report: Q&A With Johan Santana

The Post’s Steve Serby has a great Q&A with Johan Santana today. It’s perfect timing for this interview with Santana after his incredible effort yesterday to propel the Mets back into a tie for the NL Wild Card lead with the Brewers. The Shea crowd was thunderously supporting Santana and his interview with Serby shows why he deserves our support.

Read it for yourself but here’s a little taste of what it’s all about:

Q: Your message for Met fans?

A: Be positive and leave all the negativity away. I would say that we’ll have the right guys to make it happen all the way . . . and then once the regular season is over with, and we make it to the playoffs, you’re going to see a very, very intense team going out there trying to make it all the way.

Mets Fans Tracking CC In Milwaukee

While Oliver Perez and Scott Olsen are dueling in Flushing today, Mets fans will be keeping a close eye on the happening at Milwaukee’s Miller Park. The Cubs are sending September call-up Angel Guzman to face off against CC Sabathia.

Sure, the Mets control their own destiny and guarantee a tie for the Wild Card by winning today. But equally important is the Brewers-Cubs game. The Brewers are sending CC Sabathia to the mound for his fourth consecutive start on short rest. His agent must be thrilled that the Brewers are running him into the ground right before he becomes a free agent.

Since his deadline trade from the Indians to the Cubs, Sabathia is 10-2 with a 1.78 ERA. In short, he’s been devastating to opposing teams. The good news is that if he manages to win today and the Mets do as well, Sabathia won’t be pitching in a one game play-in tomorrow at Shea. But neither will Johan Santana. The plan is for Pedro Martinez to start on short rest. That isn’t exactly confidence inspiring considering Pedro’s performance this season.

Keep the faith for Ollie and hope that Sabathia stumbles today.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

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