Mets: Five things to know
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- And so, their spring arrives like a new coat of paint. But maybe all of the rough spots underneath haven't quite been sandpapered out for the New York Mets.
Check this out.
|
|
| The pressure is already squarely on Johan Santana this spring. (AP) |
Here at the end of Saturday's workout, with several hundred fans pushing up against a chain-link fence, Santana went over to sign some autographs. He generously scribbled his name for two minutes or so -- more than most other Mets did -- before jogging away.
To several boos.
"Johan!" the fans hollered. "Pleeease!"
And as the best hope to lift the Mets to their first World Series berth since 2000 disappeared on them, one fan bellowed, "It's not going to get any easier!"
Maybe the housewarming cookies will arrive later, Johan. For now, you've been put on notice: Based on the near-misses of the past two summers, the Mets' current grace period is, oh, say, less than the two hours or so it took to complete the first workout of the spring.
"Well, man, we try to get as many people as possible," the latest candidate for Mets' savior said a bit later of the autograph hounds, having iced his shoulder, showered and the ink on his six-year, $137.5 million contract still drying in some bank vault somewhere. "You can't please everybody.
"We have work to do."
If Santana doesn't realize how much work, he will soon. The cumulative pain from the past two seasons in Metsville is, gasp, almost Cub-like in its searing rawness.
From moving to within one base hit of a World Series berth in the playoffs two Octobers ago to last September's, uh, coughing fit -- blowing a seven-game lead in the NL East in the season's final 17 days -- these Mets have been either fatally flawed or damned unlucky.
Probably both.
"For me, as competitive as we are, I never get past those things," general manager Omar Minaya, the man who raised expectations back up by snaring Santana, said under the hot Florida sun Saturday. "I'll be thinking about last year for..."
His voice trailed off, but only for an instant.
"But I didn't get over two years ago when we lost to the St. Louis Cardinals," Minaya said, picking the thread of unraveling back up. "I still think that after Endy (Chavez) made that catch and we had the bases loaded and couldn't get a run in ... there is no day you go through without thinking it over.
"But I still remember some games I lost in high school. There are some basketball games I'm still pissed off about."
From that end, despite shipping four prospects to the Minnesota Twins, the Santana trade was a no-brainer for the GM.
"The Johan Santanas of the world come around only once," Minaya said. "I hate giving up prospects, but we're in a big marketplace, New York, and we're going into a new stadium (in 2009). It's the front office telling the players, 'We still believe in you, and we'll do everything we can to give you a chance to win.'"
Belief, not surprisingly, remains a persistent topic with the Mets. Minaya mentioned several times Saturday that the team looks very good "on paper." The normally wallpaper-boring Carlos Beltran went public with reporters Saturday, telling them to pass along to Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins that "we are the team to beat." Manager Willie Randolph said that "everyone knows what last year is. There's not going to be any Knute Rockne speeches."
Part of the thinking being, Santana's presence is far better than any speech. That the Mets have been an ace short of a full load has been apparent for the past couple of seasons. That need became impossible to look beyond as soon as Tom Glavine signed with Atlanta over the winter.
The book on Santana, the lefty with sizzle on his fastball, bite on his slider and a devastating change-up, is pretty open. Acknowledged as one of the game's top two or three pitchers for the past four seasons, he won Cy Young awards with Minnesota in 2004 and 2006, won 70 games over those four seasons, and compiled a sub-2.90 ERA in three of them.
A couple of potential red flags popped up late last season when Santana posted the highest ERA of his career (3.33) and allowed the most homers in the AL (33). Most noticeable, though, was his pre- and post-All-Star Game splits: A 2.75 ERA in 18 starts before the break, and a 4.04 ERA in 15 starts following the break.
"We looked at his velocity, what pitches he was throwing, we checked with opponents who faced him, his teammates and we talked to a couple of American League teams," Minaya said. "It's one of those things, a couple of bad outings. We looked at his velocity, pitch counts, there was nothing to show (alarm).
"Things just didn't work out."
Santana echoed his new GM.
"I was fine," he said. "It's just that things didn't work out as a team. We were struggling as a team. It wasn't just me. We weren't able to make plays, to hit, to pitch. I wasn't trying to do anything different."
He knows how close the Mets have come the past two seasons, and he knows he's expected to become their own personal Advil to chase away the hangover, though there's no way he can feel the depth of the pain. Not unless he was in that locker room.
"I ain't over it," closer Billy Wagner said. "I ain't over watching the Phillies run around and celebrate. I'm embarrassed.
"I'm embarrassed to be on the team that just fell apart."
Already, the acquisition of Santana has provided at least a small salve to some of that pain and suffering.
Pedro Martinez was in the Dominican Republic when he heard the news. "I was jumping up and down," he said.
Third baseman David Wright was driving to an appearance at the Baseball Alumni Team banquet in New York City when he got word. It wasn't long before he dialed up is buddy, Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer, to get the inside scouting report on Santana.
"He said he's just as good in the clubhouse as he is on the field," Wright said.
These Mets, still carrying around bruised psyches, can use that. They can use a 200-inning guy who takes pressure off of the rotation, eases the bullpen workload, deflects some of the tabloid attention from the rest of the guys and maybe is in the market for another Cy Young award. Sure, they can.
"Instead of answering so many questions about what happened last year, we're talking about the excitement he brings," Wright said.
"I'm glad someone's here who can take the punishment for a year and go out and have to live up to expectations," Wagner said.
Think these guys aren't scarred? This season is all about doing enough to make the scars recede.
Santana says he knows what New York is all about, knows the pressure is incredible and the expectations are worse. Yeah, he got a very small taste of that while leaving the autograph line early.
"He knows he's bad," Randolph said. "He knows it. The way he carries himself, the way he talks.
"Guys that have adjusted to this town are guys like that."
