Johan Santana's season is over before it started.
Already on the disabled list to open the season because of a setback in his recovery from back and shoulder injuries, Santana will not pitch again for the Mets this year, if ever again.
According to multiple reports, Santana tore the anterior capsule in his left shoulder, the same injury he suffered two years ago. The former ace, received the diagnosis while being reexamined by team doctors in New York City shortly after being placed on the DL.
This is a huge blow to the Mets' and Santana's plans for this year. Clearly, with New York in rebuilding mode and planning to move forward with younger, more talented arms in Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler, the Mets had hoped that a healthy Santana could solidify the rotation. The Mets had also hoped, that if Santana pitched well enough this year, they could trade him to a contender for prospects.
Now the Mets are now on the hook for all of Santana's $31 million this season, with no injury insurance in the contract. Call it the parting gift from ex-General Manager Omar Minaya.
For Santana, missing the entire year means he misses out on showcasing his talents to a team looking to make a late season push. Even if Santana were to come back and pitch this year, nobody would want to gamble on him.
The Mets-Santana marriage is now officially going down as one of the worst in Mets history. Minaya had traded for and signed Santana to a seven-year, $137 million deal back in 2008, making him the highest paid pitcher in the sport at the time.
However, after a great 2008 campaign highlighted by Santana's gem against the Florida Marlins on the next to last day of the season, it has been downhill since.
He soon suffered that initial torn anterior capsule in 2010 and had to be shut down at the end of that year. The injury lingered into 2011 causing Santana to miss the entire year.
Last season, Santana tried to come back with a vengeance. He got off to a great start, highlighted by his miraculous no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field, the first no-no of his career and the first ever by a pitcher in a Mets uniform.
Shortly thereafter, Manager Terry Collins blamed himself for letting Santana throw 136 pitches during that historic moment. Collins even cryptically wished it wouldn't come back to bite him. Collins must own a crystal ball because Santana was never the same after the no-hitter. By August, Santana had to be shut down because of an apparent back injury.
There has been rampant speculation that Santana may have caused this new injury to his shoulder out of sheer anger toward Sandy Alderson. Earlier in camp, Alderson questioned Santana's readiness for spring training saying the lefty looked out of shape.
Angered by the accusations, Santana took to the outfield to have an unscheduled long toss session with pitcher Pedro Feliciano; the Mets front office never objected to the session, according to the New York Post. During that session, Santana apparently flung a baseball off the orange homer demarcation above the wall just to the left of the 410 sign in center, which, Joel Sherman writes, had to be 250 feet away. The throw by Santana looked to be like a man putting all of his pent up anger into one throw as if to say to Alderson, "See. I feel great."
Later, Santana took to the mound for a bullpen session that he scheduled by himself. While he never faced any objection by the Mets front office or coaches, there is belief now that Santana rushed his own program in order to quiet the chatty General Manager.
If that is the case, the marriage between the Mets and Santana ends with an extremely bitter taste.
Now we are left with the possible end to Johan Santana's once brilliant career.
Already on the disabled list to open the season because of a setback in his recovery from back and shoulder injuries, Santana will not pitch again for the Mets this year, if ever again.According to multiple reports, Santana tore the anterior capsule in his left shoulder, the same injury he suffered two years ago. The former ace, received the diagnosis while being reexamined by team doctors in New York City shortly after being placed on the DL.
This is a huge blow to the Mets' and Santana's plans for this year. Clearly, with New York in rebuilding mode and planning to move forward with younger, more talented arms in Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler, the Mets had hoped that a healthy Santana could solidify the rotation. The Mets had also hoped, that if Santana pitched well enough this year, they could trade him to a contender for prospects.
Now the Mets are now on the hook for all of Santana's $31 million this season, with no injury insurance in the contract. Call it the parting gift from ex-General Manager Omar Minaya.
For Santana, missing the entire year means he misses out on showcasing his talents to a team looking to make a late season push. Even if Santana were to come back and pitch this year, nobody would want to gamble on him.
The Mets-Santana marriage is now officially going down as one of the worst in Mets history. Minaya had traded for and signed Santana to a seven-year, $137 million deal back in 2008, making him the highest paid pitcher in the sport at the time.
However, after a great 2008 campaign highlighted by Santana's gem against the Florida Marlins on the next to last day of the season, it has been downhill since.
He soon suffered that initial torn anterior capsule in 2010 and had to be shut down at the end of that year. The injury lingered into 2011 causing Santana to miss the entire year.
Last season, Santana tried to come back with a vengeance. He got off to a great start, highlighted by his miraculous no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field, the first no-no of his career and the first ever by a pitcher in a Mets uniform.
Shortly thereafter, Manager Terry Collins blamed himself for letting Santana throw 136 pitches during that historic moment. Collins even cryptically wished it wouldn't come back to bite him. Collins must own a crystal ball because Santana was never the same after the no-hitter. By August, Santana had to be shut down because of an apparent back injury.
There has been rampant speculation that Santana may have caused this new injury to his shoulder out of sheer anger toward Sandy Alderson. Earlier in camp, Alderson questioned Santana's readiness for spring training saying the lefty looked out of shape.
Angered by the accusations, Santana took to the outfield to have an unscheduled long toss session with pitcher Pedro Feliciano; the Mets front office never objected to the session, according to the New York Post. During that session, Santana apparently flung a baseball off the orange homer demarcation above the wall just to the left of the 410 sign in center, which, Joel Sherman writes, had to be 250 feet away. The throw by Santana looked to be like a man putting all of his pent up anger into one throw as if to say to Alderson, "See. I feel great."
Later, Santana took to the mound for a bullpen session that he scheduled by himself. While he never faced any objection by the Mets front office or coaches, there is belief now that Santana rushed his own program in order to quiet the chatty General Manager.
If that is the case, the marriage between the Mets and Santana ends with an extremely bitter taste.
Now we are left with the possible end to Johan Santana's once brilliant career.
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