Santana is a Home Run No Matter How You Slice It

by: Joe McDonald | Publisher and Editor-in-Chief | Saturday, February 2, 2008



If October 25, 1986 is the most memorable date in Mets history, then February 1, 2008 can’t be too far behind.

Because on that rainy Friday, the Amazins’ completed the deal for Johan Santana, signing him to a $137.5 million extension over six years to give the lefthander a total of almost $151 million over the next seven seasons.

It’s a lot of money, but the Mets had to do it. After acquiring the two-time Cy Young award winner back on Tuesday, it would be hard for the front office to explain to its fan base that Santana was not coming here.

By getting the 28 year-old, the Mets put themselves in position to be the frontrunners of the National League. After collapsing down the stretch last season and blowing a 7 ½ game lead in the last 17 games, something needed to be done. Ryan Church and Brian Schneider just didn’t cut it.

But with Santana, the Mets have the premier pitcher in baseball and the owner of one of the most devastating changeups in history. Santana can throw the pitch on any count for strikes, while maintaining the same arm motion and speed his 93-96 m.p.h fastball shows the batter.

That gives him a tremendous advantage, especially against the some of the undisciplined lineups in the National League. And by pitching at Shea, he will be able to keep the ball in the park and cut down on his 33 home runs he gave up last season.

Now, he did struggle in September and lost a few m.p.h off the fastball, but that shouldn’t be too much of a concern going into this season, because his arm is fine and he probably just needed some rest.

With Santana, the rotation looks so much better. A healthy Pedro Martinez becomes the No. 2 with John Maine and Oliver Perez slotting in behind. Then the No. 5 hole becomes less important. Orlando Hernandez is still there, but he is often injured and Mike Pelfrey can dill in too. The Mets may sign a Kyle Lohse or another pitcher, but that doesn’t seem too much of a concern.

It’s Santana that’s the important piece. With an aging team, the Mets now can go into the season not worrying about 2008 and hope the squad not only makes the playoffs, but also becomes the favorites for the World Series.

And then there’s the competition with the Yankee. Sure the Mets say it doesn’t matter, but it does. Now Santana become the spotlight pitcher in New York, where he gets the back page every time he takes the mound. Also, there’s the matter of the Subway Series and wouldn’t it look nice to have Santana, Pedro and either Maine or Perez take the mound for that three game series.

So it’s a home run no matter how it’s cut. Getting Santana makes the Mets better and even more important, relevant again.