Johan Santana: The Lost Man of Mets Camp

One of my favorite Mets bloggers, Patrick Flood, has joined one of my favorite Mets blogs, Amazin Avenue. If you've never read Patrick's writing before, he has a way of creating vivid imagery with words that very few sports bloggers are able to do. This was a particularly interesting post about Johan Santana, with this astute observation as to why he flew under the radar before becoming an All-Star and two-time Cy Young Award winner with the Minnesota Twins:

"...at his best Santana was genius. He didn’t throw remarkably hard by major league standards, his slider was just a junky waste pitch he only threw to lefties, and he always seemed to be fighting himself. He’s not unusual physically, maybe other than being broad shouldered. There are good reasons he was never a prospect and the Astros now-famously let a young Santana go in the Rule 5 draft. His gifts were never obvious because they were always hidden away in his mind. Santana’s brilliance was not only in reconciling his body and his will in the way all great control pitchers do, but in that his will was able to dominate the physical in ways that seemed, at times, almost supernatural. Like he could actually decide, after throwing a pitch, whether it was a fastball or a changeup. Or he could cause a popup to hang in the air just long enough for the shortstop to chase it down. Or he could not only manipulate most hitters, but actually control some. As in some poor slugger like Dan Uggla didn't even have a choice as whether to swing, he just swung or didn't swing because Santana made him."

Tom Seaver Has No Friends | NotGraphs Baseball

I can't believe Tom Seaver's official statement said he never met Johan Santana when Fangraphs found proof to the contrary.

So sad Tom. Perhaps you should ease up on that wine at the Seaver Vineyard.

Today's Mets win, Mets team captains, and Double-A 2B Reese Havens (a hodgepodge of stuff)

The Mets start the season 2-0 powered by an opposite field home run from David Wright and two homers from Lucas Duda. However, the moment that stood out in my mind is the scene of Wright calming down Ike Davis after a strikeout during the game. A little over five weeks ago, I wrote the Mets should officially name David Wright and Johan Santana as team captains, since that's the role they serve the team anyway. More recently, a question was posed to Anthony DiComo, Mets beat reporter for Mets.com asking a related question:

"In Mets history, have they had many captains? I can think of John Franco, maybe Gary Carter or Keith Hernandez?
-- Ralph G., Rahway, N.J.

You named them all. The Mets did not name a captain until Hernandez in 1987, who shared the captainship with Carter from 1988-89. Franco was captain from 2001-04. The Mets have not had one since, though David Wright has served as sort of a de facto captain for most of his tenure in New York."

So, in a way, putting that 'C' on the jersey (which I'll admit, is more common in football and hockey than baseball) would only be stating the obvious. However, it would also be sending a message to the team and the fans where the team's priorities are.

By the way, if you go to the same Mets.com link, you'll see this question at the very end:

"Where is Reese Havens? We haven't heard any reports of his injury. Is the team keeping it quiet because of his history or is he really making no progress?
-- Amod V., Montclair, N.J.

Havens made little progress after experiencing a bout of lower back stiffness early in camp, and he began the Minor League season on Double-A Binghamton's seven-day disabled list.

I have yet to meet a talent evaluator inside or outside the organization who does not believe Havens can thrive offensively at the Major League level. But at some point, the injuries began consuming him. Now 25 years old, Havens is hardly young for a prospect. He is running out of time to prove he can stay healthy over a full season, and the more time he misses this summer, the more difficult his path will be."

Yes, Mr. DiComo answered my question! And I'm glad to see the part about how successful Havens could be if he could put it all together. A first round pick taken four spots after Ike Davis, let's just hope he finally does.

"Pelfrey has good stuff but you wonder if he just needs to get out of New York and start over."

Apparently the Mets brainstormed the idea of releasing Mike Pelfrey this Spring. A couple of comments that came out of the idea:

"...one Met made a case for retaining Pelfrey that was representative of how many players feel, saying, “If we got rid of him, he would (stick it to us).”"

"Some of his longtime rivals, observing from a distance, believe that Pelfrey would benefit from pitching in a new city, free of the expectations of a fan base that often expresses its displeasure with him.

“Pelfrey has good stuff,” said an NL East player who has faced Pelfrey for years. “But you wonder if he just needs to get out of New York and start over.”"

I hate to say 'I told you so' but back in 2006 and 2007, I was always much more impressed with Philip Humber than Mike Pelfrey, even though most scouts had them fairly even or Pelfrey a tick higher as a prospect. Even though Humber hasn't established himself as the top-notch starter a #3 overall draft pick should be, I always thought his raw intelligence gave him an upside that Pelfrey doesn't have. I can't put my finger on it but Pelfrey has a deer-in-headlights look that many small-town folks get in New York.

Likewise, I thought it should have been Pelfrey and not Humber that went to Minnesota in the Johan Santana trade. Pelfrey probably would have thrived in Minnesota and the trade would have been far more equal than anyone looking back on it today thinks. Unfortunately, we'll never know.

Johan Santana to the World: I’m Back

Flying under the radar with all the Tim Tebow news yesterday was a phenomenal outing by Johan Santana. I'm starting to get optimistic! (I hope it's not all for naught.)

Team Captains for the New York Mets?

The ever optimistic Rich Coutinho gives another reason to be optimistic about the 2012 New York Mets:

"Remember this Mets fans — I know you feel beat up right now and naturally your expectations have been lowered. But Johan Santana does not have low expectations and wants nothing to do with any players who possess those tendencies. He intends on being on the mound on Opening Day and plans on making his next start five days later because that is what he was made to do...To me, that is best reason Mets fans should be optimistic — Johan Santana is hell-bent on carrying this pitching staff."

Couple that with this quote from Metsblog.com today about David Wright:

"It’s worth noting that Wright did a lot of hanging with and goofing around with the younger guys, specifically [Cesar] Puello."

The Mets haven't had a real team captain since Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter (R.I.P. Kid) They had John Franco but I always felt he was too chummy with management and did more to undermine the team than to lead them. Let's face it, John Franco may have worn the 'C' on his jersey but it was Mike Piazza's team all those years.

Does it make sense to Terry Collins to anoint Johan Santana and David Wright team captains this season and let them lead the team? Or would that undermine Sandy Alderson's ability to trade them (and, more importantly, their contracts) during the season?