On the Mets beat

As we wait breathlessly for the Johan Santana deal to get gone -- don't worry, it will -- here's a topic that keeps coming up among Mets observers: How many wins for Pedro Martinez next season? I had this discussion with a few other baseball writers on Saturday before the Mets acquired Santana and was actually alone in believing he would win 15 games.

Are people really that skeptical about Martinez's surgically-repaired right shoulder? Martinez was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA in five starts last season after returning from a year-long rehab process, so he can still get hitters out. There's no doubt about that. It's just a matter of how many starts he can make.

The Mets are confident he won't have to be handled with kid gloves and as long as he makes 28 starts, I think he'll get 15 wins. John Maine was 15-10 in 32 starts last year and Perez went 15-10 in 29. Throw in another 18-20 for Santana, and that's a pretty impressive rotation.

So the Mets are on the clock to get a contract extension for Johan Santana done by 5 p.m. Friday. Not to worry. Why would COO Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya even make this deal if they didn't plan to dig deep -- very deep -- for the money to lock him up? And the days of the Mets being cheap (Vladimir Guerrero, for instance) are long over. The Mets' solid relationship with Santana's agent, Peter Greenberg, should also help, even though many felt that Greenberg left money on the table two years ago by agreeing to that four-year, $23.25-million deal for Reyes. The Mets aren't going to get much of a discount this time, you can bet.

I have to admit I was among the skeptics at last month's Winter Meetings in Nashville who thought the Mets had little chance of acquiring Johan Santana. It just seemed that the Yankees and Red Sox had more enticing offers on the table.

And you know what? They did. But Twins GM Bill Smith felt he could do better by waiting and just the opposite happened. Smith gambled on the cold war paranoia between the Yankees and Red Sox and ultimately lost. In the end, the Yankees pulled their Phil Hughes-Melky Cabrera offer and Boston, who had two separate offers headlined by either Jon Lester or Jacoby Ellsbury, was satisfied that Santana wasn't going to the Bronx. That's when the Mets stepped in.

Timing is everything. With spring training a little less than three weeks away, the Mets just let the pressure build on Smith, who had a very restless Santana on his hands. Santana must have made it clear that he would be not be a happy man if the season began with him in Minnesota -- i.e. refusing to be traded before the end of the season, meaning the Twins would get nothing but draft picks when he left via free agency.

With the Yankees and Red Sox out of the mix, the Mets were left with virtually no competition for Santana and got him for four of their top 10 prospects. But not their top prospect -- Fernando Martinez. Sure, it hurts to some degree to lose Carlos Gomez and Deolis Guerra, and maybe Kevin Mulvey.But Philip Humber no longer fit into the Mets plans. As for the extension, which should wind up being in the six-year, $125 million range, with a vesting option, the money can't be that big a factor for the Mets. Not with their TV network thriving and Citi Field ready to open next season.

So congrats to COO Jeff Wilpon, GM Omar Minaya and the crew. The Mets have been torched since mid-September of last season, but trading for Santana could be the first step toward a World Series berth next October. That would make for a better ending.

Figured I should include one last photo of Santana in a Twins uniform. That's a Cy Young plaque he's holding there at the Metrodome. He could be hoisting No. 3 next year at Citi Field.

BY NEWSDAY.COM

The Mets have acquired lefthanded ace Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins for prospects Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey, Newsday has confirmed.

The deal, first reported on USA Today.com, depends on the Mets and Santana reaching an agreement on a six- or seven-year contract extension within the next three days.

Santana presumably would waive his no-trade clause to allow the deal to go through once an agreement on a new contract had been reached.

Although the Mets sacrificed four key members of their farm system in the deal, they also managed to make the trade without giving up prized prospect Fernando Martinez.

Rather than Martinez, who had been widely reported to be the key cog in any deal for Santana, the Mets included Gomez, 22, who played 58 games as a rookie with the Mets last year and batted .232.

Humber, 25, was a first-round pick of the Mets in 2004, but his stock plunged after he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2005. He was on the Mets' roster during the second half of last season, appearing in five games.

... or the Yankees or Red Sox. Here's the bottom line for Twins GM Bill Smith when it comes to Johan Santana: Can Smith settle for an attractive package of prospects for the two-time Cy Young winner, which is what the Mets can offer, or does he need a proven major-league starter, like the Yankees' Phil Hughes or the Red Sox's Jon Lester, to save face in dealing Santana?

It would be awfully tough for Smith to trade Santana and not have any of the players in that deal make an impact for the Twins next season. I'm not saying that Carlos Gomez won't make the roster, but he could use some more experience before stepping into a full-time role. As for Philip Humber or Kevin Mulvey, they have potential, but that's about it at this stage.

The Mets are under the impression that Smith is still figuring out which way to go, as reported today in Newsday. They're definitely in the mix, but if the Twins want a difference-maker for next season, the Yankees and Red Sox seem better equipped to provide that. If not, and Smith goes for the mother lode of prospects, then the Mets could be the ones to close the blockbuster deal.

The Mets announced this afternoon that the sale of "seven packs" will commence tomorrow, Jan. 11, at noon. These packs feature tickets to Opening Day, the Subway Series and the regular-season finale at Shea.

For more information, click below:

I'm skeptical that Johan Santana will be traded before the start of this season, but the Minneapolis Star-Tribune indicated today that the Twins are still trying to extract the best package from the only teams willing to pay the tab -- the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets. The article suggests that the Twins would make the trade right now if the Mets added Fernando Martinez to a package of Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey.

That's a boatload of prospects that would seriously drain the Mets' farm system, but it does not include a front-line starter, like the Yankees' Phil Hughes or the Red Sox's Jon Lester. Also, Gomez is not ready to be a starting centerfielder in the majors yet. Defensively, sure. But he needs work at the plate. Serious work.

Do you think this is a good deal? Vote here.

In what is mostly an administrative move, the Mets announced today that they have re-signed Duaner Sanchez to a one-year, $850,000 contract, as well as eight others to minor-league deals. Most notable of that second group is righthander Juan Padilla, who missed all of last season after surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon. Sanchez is trying to rebound from a couple of medical procedures that have kept him on the shelf since July of 2005, and most recently a fractured bone in his right shoulder suffered during spring training last year.

For more details, click below:

General manager Omar Minaya may be on his way to Israel, but that didn't stop him from making a deal before the flight attendant made him turn off his Treo. The Mets actually re-acquired Angel Pagan -- he was the team's fourth-round draft pick in 1999 -- and sent minor-leaguers Corey Coles and Ryan Meyers to the Cubs. Pagan played 71 games for the Cubs last season at all three outfield positions, but this appears to be a case of simply adding depth at Triple-A.

Check out the details below:

I know this is a Mets blog, but Roger Clemens is vilified in Flushing, so readers of this site have to be giddy about seeing the Rocket stand up in front of Congress and try to wriggle his way out of this whole steroid fiasco with some verbal gymnastics.

And while he's up there, with his hand on the Bible, maybe they can ask him a few more questions, such as:

"Mr. Clemens, on the date of July 8, 2000, you drilled Mike Piazza in the head, splitting the N and Y on his batting helmet. Was that in fact intentional? Remember sir, you are under oath."

And how about this:

"Mr. Clemens, during Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, you hurled a splintered bat at Mike Piazza. How is it possible that you thought it was a baseball? Were you on any other controlled substances beyond Wistrol and HGH?"

Unfortunately, we probably won't get the answers to these questions unless there's a Mets fan on the panel. But enjoy the hearings anyway. With the kind of heat Clemens is facing, this could be a Mark McGwire situation all over again. Maybe worse.

Saying that he had a "horrible year" in 2007, Carlos Delgado vowed that the Mets would right the wrongs of last September's collapse when they take the field for the upcoming season. Delgado suggested that the Mets took their division lead for granted in the final weeks and realized their mistake too late. He also promised to be better at making adjustments this season, feels that the Mitchell Report was unfair to baseball in some respects and also does not believe the Mets "need" Johan Santana to win in 2008.

The full transcript of the interview appears below. Enjoy.