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 just the latest setback. Considering that the playoffs are no longer a realistic option, expect New York to start sitting most of their players.

On the season, Santana has a 3.13 ERA and a record of 13-9. He struggled in June but bounced back and was pitching well in July and August. Expect the 30-year-old left-hander to return strong once again next year.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 that single start.

At this point, there’s really no reason not to believe Santana. He says he’s healthy and is confident that he’ll be able to get right back on track. Keep an eye on him in his next start but chances are that he’ll be back to being one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Johan Santana Injury Update (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 Lidge, CC Sabathia and Ryan Dempster round out the top six. Lincecum received 23 first place votes — far and away the most.

The generously listed 5-foot-11 Giants pitcher is the unquestioned ace of San Francisco’s pitching rotation and has replaced Barry Bonds as the face of the franchise.

Photo credit: Newscom

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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 homeruns, 11 RBI, 19 runs and 13 stolen basses. Gomez was acquired from the New York Mets in the offseason in the trade that sent ace pitcher Johan Santana to the Mets.

With the win, the Twins improved to 17-15 and remain in first place in the AL Central. The White Sox loss drops Chicago to 15-17 and they are now in third place in the AL Central. Apparently, the White Sox slump buster blowup dolls don’t protect against cycles.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• 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 in the bottom half and hanging on for a 12-11 victory. Xavier Nady, whom I’ve been following since he took home Cal League MVP honors in 2001 while playing for a great Lake Elsinore Storm club (Peavy and Mets left-hander Oliver Perez also played on that team, which went 91-49), knocked two homers, including the game winner.
• The Giants really stink. Good thing they’re paying Barry Zito all that money.
• The Brewers and Cubs ran a clinic on how not to close a game. Locked in a scoreless tie headed to the ninth, Milwaukee plated three runs in the top half off “closer” Kerry Wood, then watched “closer” Eric Gagne cough up three of his own in the bottom half. The Brewers scored in the top of the 10th and hung on to win, 4-3. Who got credit for the victory? The least deserving guy in the ballpark, of course: Gagne. The next time someone tries to tell you that a pitcher is good because of his won-loss record, remind them that the rules dictating how a win is “earned” don’t necessarily correlate with actually contributing to victory.
• Break up the Nationals. With Monday’s 11-6 drubbing of Philadelphia, they’re assured of finishing no worse than 2-160 this year.
• Livan Hernandez pitched well in his Twins debut. Actually, for all the grief Minnesota took in signing him, he matched Johan Santana’s line — two runs in seven innings — and got the win. Not that he’ll keep pace with Santana beyond, oh, right about now, but still…
• The White Sox seem to be a sexy dark horse candidate this season, but I just don’t see it. By my count, they’ve got about three or four good pitchers, depending on whether you believe Octavio Dotel can stay of the disabled list. One of them (Mark Buehrle) got absolutely pounded at Cleveland. Granted, the Indians will do that to a pitcher, but if the White Sox can’t win behind Buehrle, then what are they going to do when, say, Gavin Floyd toes the slab?

Good times, my friends. Good times…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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?

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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 got for Johan Santana. Oh wait, Rain Delay did say that. (The folks at U.S.S. Mariner ain’t real happy either.)

Sherrill is a good situational lefty, while Jones ranks among the best prospects in baseball. As for Butler and Tillman, the general sense I get is that they have higher ceilings than any of the arms the Mets sent to Minnesota.

Weird. Usually the Orioles are on the other end of this kind of trade.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 waste of money.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

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 pitcher in baseball for less than full value.

The market dictates a lot of things, I get that, but Santana isn’t a replaceable player. Like, if you don’t get Santana, there isn’t a real Plan B. The Twins should have been able to use this to their advantage, but they didn’t.

Don’t like the market now? Hey, here’s a thought: Wait a few months and see how some of those teams feel when they’re in the thick of a pennant race. Or crazier still, hang onto Santana if you find yourself in the hunt come July.

But enough of my sniping. The Twins got hosed and everyone knows it, including the Twins (regardless of what spin they might try to give). Let’s take a look at what they got in return for Santana:

Carlos Gomez

The Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2007 listed Gomez as the Mets’ #3 prospect. He’s a fast outfielder with a strong arm and plate discipline issues. The good news is that Gomez is 22 years old. The bad news is that, although he might become an impact player, he’s not there yet. Gomez has promise, but not nearly enough to make him the centerpiece of a package for the world’s best pitcher.

Philip Humber

BAPH ‘07 had Humber ranked #4 among Mets prospects. Humber is a former first-round pick who has battled injuries. He’s 25 and probably ready for a shot at a big-league rotation, but his ceiling isn’t super high.

Kevin Mulvey

Mulvey is a strike thrower who keeps the ball in the park. BA had him ranked #6 coming into 2007. His low strikeout numbers (6.53 K/9 at Double-A Binghamton last year) suggest a back-end type of guy.

Deolis Guerra

BAPH ‘07 listed Guerra as the Mets’ #5 prospect. The good news is that he held his own in the Florida State League at age 18. The bad news is that so did Jose Pett many moons ago. Am I suggesting that Guerra is the new Pett? No. My point is that a lot can go wrong between there and here.

Jim Callis at BA has more info on the prospects headed to Minnesota, but ultimately reaches the same, inevitable conclusion: assuming the trade goes through, the Twins hurt themselves in the short term without receiving enough long-term value to offset the loss of Santana.

Post from: Knuckle Curve