Johan Santana of the New York Mets, regarded by some as the best pitcher in baseball, needs elbow surgery and will miss the rest of the 2009 baseball season. The surgery is needed due to the presence of bone chips in his pitching elbow.
The good news for Santana is that this surgery is relatively minor. The Mets fully expect their ace to be ready to go at the start of next season’s spring training. In fact, Santana had a similar procedure prior to the 2003 season.
For the Mets, they’ve dealt with a number of injuries all season — Santana is …read more

Rumors surrounding the New York Mets indicate that superstar starting pitcher Johan Santana is dealing with an injured left knee. That knee has been blamed for Santana’s last outing, which was a disaster.
However, Santana is saying that he doesn’t have an injured knee. He says that the location of his pitches, not any injury, was the issue in his last outing.
That outing in question came over the weekend against the New York Yankees. In only three innings, he gave up a career-high nine earned runs on nine hits and two walks. His ERA jumped from 2.39 to 3.29 due to …read more

Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants was named the winner of the 2008 National League Cy Young Award. The 24-year-old right-hander proved during the 2008 campaign why he’s regarded as one of the best young pitchers in Major League Baseball.
On the season, Lincecum went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA. He also struck out 265 batters in 227 innings pitched. Throw in a WHIP of 1.17 and it’s no wonder how Lincecum was able to win the NL Cy Young Award.
Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks finished second and Johan Santana of the New York Mets finished third, while Brad …read more

Carlos Gomez, the 22-year-old centerfielder for the Minnesota Twins, hit for the cycle on Wednesday night against the Chicago White Sox. Gomez became the first Twin in 22 years to hit for the cycle. The last player on the Twins to hit for the cycle was Kirby Puckett.
On the third pitch of the game, Gomez hit a homer against White Sox starter Mark Buehrle. In the fifth inning, Gomez hit the triple. The double came in the sixth inning. Gomez’s single didn’t come until the ninth inning.
On the season, Gomez is hitting .282 with two …read more

Ah, Opening Day. I hope you had as much fun as we did (full report at Ducksnorts). Beyond the thrill of a packed house at Petco Park watching Jake Peavy spin a shutout, here are a few items from Monday that caught my eye:

The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2. The planet’s best pitcher against a Triple-A squad — who could’ve have anticipated such a result? Uh, everyone.
The Pittsburgh/Atlanta game was insane. The Pirates took a 9-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves tied. Then the Bucs jumped ahead in the 12th, 12-9, before allowing two runs …read more

We’ve got our staff predictions up at Hardball Times. I go into greater detail about Padres-specific items over at Ducksnorts.
At THT, I’ve gone with the popular pick except for AL West (I chose Mariners over Angels), AL Wild Card (Indians over Yankees), and NL Cy Young (Jake Peavy over Johan Santana — there’s my Padres bias kicking in because, hey, someone’s got to have a Padres bias).
I also have the Diamondbacks beating the Tigers in the World Series. We’ll see what happens…
How about you? Any predictions you’d care to share?

Everyone else is calling it the Erik Bedard trade. I thought I’d be a little different and focus on the centerpiece of the package headed to Baltimore.
The full deal sees the O’s send southpaw Bedard to Seattle in exchange for center fielder Adam Jones, left-handers George Sherrill and Tony Butler, and right-handers Chris Tillman, and Kam Mickolio. Acknowledging that Bedard is very good — though possibly somewhat overrated thanks to the crazy strikeout numbers he posted in ‘07 — this is quite the haul for Baltimore.
In fact, you could say that it’s a better package than what the Minnesota Twins …read more

The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived: The New York Mets have signed Johan Santana to a 6-year, $137.5 million deal, which means that the trade with Minnesota is on and the Twins are hosed. Incentives could kick the total value of his contract to $150 million.
Santana becomes the highest paid pitcher in big-league history. His contract surpasses the 7-year, $126 million deal Barry Zito signed with the San Francisco Giants last winter. When you look at it in that context, the Santana signing seems like an absolute bargain. And the Zito signing still seems like an absolute …read more

Okay, look, the Johan Santana deal hasn’t been finalized, but I’m not going to be the last person to comment on it. What? I’m too late?
The New York Mets have extracted stolen acquired Santana from the Minnesota Twins for a glass of water some magic beans four prospects.
I jest, of course, to make a point. The prospects headed to Minnesota — outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra — aren’t bad, but they also aren’t Philip Hughes. The question I have for the Twins is why they would blink now and give away the best …read more