After someone how fleecing the Twins of Johan Santana for an offer of prospects that just didn’t look as good as either the Red Sox or Yankee offers, the pressure is on both the Mets and their prospective ace to get a deal done. The two sides have until 5PM Friday. If all goes well, Mets’ fans will have something to celebrate this weekend.
If Santana somehow slips away on the other hand, it will be a bigger collapse than the Mets experienced at the end of last season. My simple advice is pay him whatever he wants. The Mets simply can’t overpay him. Johan will rule the NL. Look for his ERA to drop substantially. Don’t believe me? Check out Roger Clemens stats with the Astros. Steroids not withstanding, at an advaced age, Roger posted much lower ERAs once he swapped leagues.
Frankly, the Mets need Santana. They need him to get rid of the ugly aftertaste of 2007. They need him as the centerpiece of a team opening a new home stadium. They need him to take the ace spot from a very brave but possibly brittle Pedro Martinez.
The flip side is that Santana needs the Mets too. He’s grown tired of seeing good players escape Minnesota. He’s a big market talent looking for the money and stage that only a big market can provide. Does he really want to go back to the Twins and wait out more months of trade rumors before the Twins give him away again?
I think not.
Make this thing happen and let us focus on the Super Bowl already!
