Once the Mets wrap up his contract in the next couple of days, Johan Santana will be pitching for the New York Mets... in the National League.
Anyone want to take a guess what his numbers are going to be like? I think it's fair to say that he's a lock for 18 wins and a 2.50 ERA. In '04, he whiffed 265 batters. Now, he'll get to face pitchers about 80 more times a year than he does now. Can we say 300k's?
The best part is, everyone seems to be in agreement that we got him for a song. I liked Carlos Gomez, too, but I don't think the guy's ever going to hit .300. I think the guy will wind up being an Alfonso Soriano type, without as much power... bat .280, hit 25, steal 35, but whiff 130 times and rarely take a walk. And the pitchers we sent over? Meh.... You never know with pitchers. Plus, Santana's only going to be 29 this season.
The Mets off-season went from a disaster to a huge victory in the blink of an eye, and you gotta hand it to Omar Minaya for getting his guy without giving up too much.
So I'm trying to figure out when Santana's Shea debut is. I say its Saturday, April 12th, because clearly he starts opening day, but the Mets have two off days in the first 10 games... so they'll use Santana, Martinez, Maine, and Perez, with a day of rest, and probably use Santana again that first Sunday on the road against Atlanta. It wouldn't make sense to push him back, because they're off that Monday, too, so it would be a week in between starts, and I doubt they're rushing to get El Duque more starts than necessary.
Anyway, nothing is guaranteed, as we saw last year, but with the best rotation in baseball, the Mets now have to be frontrunners for the World Series on day one.
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