Johan Santana is Pitching

Four years ago, a very long four years ago, the Mets made a deal with the Minnesota Twins. They sent four players the Metrodome: Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. In return they got the decade's most dominant pitcher and a new ace, one that would replace Tom Glavine who had worn out his welcome. They got Johan Santana.

Three of the players in that deal have yet to fulfill their expectations. One, is currently a backup outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. The fifth, hasn't appeared in a game in over one year.

Johan Santana's health has been a major concern to the Mets organization. It's affected their on-field product and their reputation in the sports world.

As much as David Wright is the "face of the franchise," Santana is the only player on the team to receive accolades at the end of a season.

Here's an easy way to describe Santana's career with the Mets:

In his only complete season with the club, the Mets finished 89-73. They missed the playoffs by one game. In his final start of the season, Santana threw a complete game, three-hit shutout. Beyond that, his pitch count that afternoon at Shea was a career high and he threw on short rest. That game put the Mets in a tie with the Brewers for the wild card with one game to go. The season then rested on the shoulders of Oliver Perez...every Mets fan knows what to expect from that.

Since that year, the Mets have yet to eclipse 80 wins in a season and are the butt of every baseball joke. It's at the point where Pirates fans think their team could be worse.

Johan Santana brings a competitive edge that the Mets have been lacking. They are not "the Mets" without their ace. He's a guy who simply doesn't lose. He's probably not going to win 18 games this year and win the Cy Young. But, that doesn't mean the Mets can't win.

As long as Santana stays healthy, I believe that every fifth day, this team will win. And if they can find other sources of consistency in the rotation, they are a solid team.

The buzz out of Port Saint Lucie is that Santana is throwing well and impressing all the coaches and members of the media.

Here's a video from SNY.tv of Santana's bullpen session earlier Wednesday morning:



Santana's progress is definitely something to keep track of every day during Spring Training. I can only keep my fingers crossed that he'll be ready for Opening Day and bring excitement to Citi Field, really, for the first time.