The New York Mets acquired two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana this week from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for four coveted minor league prospects. The deal was finalized Friday night when Santana, 28, and the Mets agreed to a record-setting contract extension worth $137.5 million over six-years. Santana, who is 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA in eight major league seasons, is the most pivotal acquisition the Metropolitans have made since they landed first baseman Keith Hernandez in 1983.
The acquisition of Santana adds a legitimate frontline starter to an already productive and balanced rotation and it makes the Mets prohibitive favorites to capture their first National League pennant since 2000. The Mets, whose late-September collapse in 2007 rivaled the hideous demise of the Giuliani campaign this past week, will always be the red-headed step-children from Gotham. But, because of this instrumental free agent parlay, they will likely be the Big Apple’s best squad on the diamond throughout the 2008 season.
As a massive Yankees aficionado, I hope I am wrong. But, unfortunately, I don’t think I will be. The Mets are the safest bet since Takeru Kobayashi nestled his lips around a frank.
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i think you forgot mike piazza -- guy changed the Mets image entirely. and no way the mets are that great -- who is in their bullpen exactly? and besides wright and reyes, who else is a threat in that lineup? delgado? beltran? alou? overpaid has-beens. pedro has no chance at a healthy year. maine might be an over-achiever, but his is good. same cannot be said about perez. mets are still a joke and the pinstripes are still the best team in the holy city.
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