Mets make it official with Santana

The New York Mets have won the bidding war for the services of 29-year old pitcher Johann Santana. The deal had a 5 p.m. deadline today that came and went, and then was extended (what was the point of a deadline then?) for 2 hours that allowed the 2 sides to work out a deal. Contract terms were disclosed but it is speculated that the deal could be worth $150 million over 7 years. Time for some reaction as promised.

He’s not worth it. There haven’t been many pitchers who weren’t steroid-aided that have pitched well into their late 30’s. The Mets know that, which is probably why they only wanted the deal to span out over 5 years instead of the 7 years that Santana wanted. When the deal is completed, Santana will be 36 years old. He’s a power pitcher primarily (although he has a nice change-up), he has a dominating fastball which will surely taper.

This is a deal that ‘experts’ will cite in proclaiming the New York Mets the cream of the National League crop. I’ve got news for you, it’s not going to pay off for them this season. They’ve got an amazing team, in terms of National League rosters anyway; but they’re not a powerhouse or even as good of a squad as the Cleveland Indians for example, who are probably only the 3rd or 4th best team in the American League.

The Mets rotation of Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Mayne, Oliver Perez and Orlando Hernandez doesn’t strike fear in my heart. In 3 years, it will strike even less fear in me. This is another bad move by the Mets and a classic case of overpaying because they can. The bottom line is you can’t win championships by signing a check, and the Mets will not here. Come see me in 7 years, Mets and tell me how it went. I’ll tell you once again why you are the evil of baseball, New York; and I’ll then laugh at you and your failure to teams that are better in talent judgement and scouting.