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According to La Velle ‘the real deal’ E. Neal III, in the Star-Tribune, citing ‘sources,’ the Mets are expected to give Johan Santana a six-year deal that would pay him about $130 million.
…now, santana is under contract for this coming year at $13 million – after which he is eligible to be a free agent…nearly every new york-based report has said the Mets will not dish out a contract that guarantees more than five years…yet, the Star-Tribune expects it to be six…
…i wonder if the two sides will rip up this current deal, and start from scratch with a new deal, so the six years technically begins this coming season…i guess we will know soon enough…
By the way, the Star-Tribune also writes the following…
“According to a person familiar with negotiations, Santana and his agent, Peter Greenberg, gave the Twins until the end of the day on Tuesday to get a deal done or Santana would invoke his no-trade clause and remain with the Twins through the 2008 season.”
…nice job, johan…as i kept saying, he was in the driver’s seat all along…he finally forced the issue and it happened…
…oh, and i can’t stop using that 1986 Topps Santana Card i created…i love it…expect to see in every post today…i hope you don’t mind…
…also, for what it’s worth, i created that graphic five days ago, so i would have it ready to go when a deal went down…and, yes, i was so afraid i was jinxing it…phew, to say the least…
Six years, 130…..
wonder if that includes his remaining year at 13.
if so, that means we are giving him a 5 year extension at 117 (or 23.4 per year)
Surprised if that gets it done, assuming it was true that the twins offered 5 at 100 (or 20 per year).
Taxes in NY have to be a lot more, meaning the additional 17 million ( or 2.4 per year) may mostly cover additional taxes….. hence not sure this is that better of a deal.
I betcha if its a 5 year deal, he will get 25 per year or 125
add that to the 13 remaining year, that is 6 years 138 (bump the current year to 15, and it bcomes 140).
That will get it done…..140.
OMG!!! HEART ATTACK !!! This is awsome. HEY BILLY, Do you think we are gonna finish third, at best?
Where is Jimmy Rollins and his big mouth now? Where can I get a SANTANA shirt? LETS GO METS !!
Santana is the best pitcher in the game, a lefty pitching at Shea is just so hard to pass up. Maybe Santana and the Mets will meet halfway and be creative about the deal. Like throw a ton of clauses in it, like no trade, bonuses and adding on to this years contract.
Maybe if they give Santana more money they can get away with giving Santana a 5 – 6 year deal. However, Santana might be looking at the Barry Zito contract and say he’s better than him, which he clearly is. But if Santana really wants to pitch for the Mets and he wants out from the Twins, I think they can come up with a deal that will make both sides happy.
This is about 2 years to many for a pitcher, but given we are bringing a cy young x 2 guy to the NL Mets who projects to be at the top of his game for at least 3-4 or those years, duh, do it!
might be, after what happened with Pedro its great to see the Mets not be too reserved about the long term deal to a pitcher…
Hopefully by the last two years of that deal Pelfrey, Maine and some new FA lefty (Hamels? ha!) will be fronting up the rotation and Santana can wrap up his Mets career like Pedro will be doing this year.
Why would Santana be wrapping up his career? If its 6 years he will be what 35?
I said his Mets career, big difference
Perfect.
Anyone else think that this deal is still waiting to happen in Spring Training if Santana does not put the pressure on SMith with his own deadline?
all along…Santana has held the trump card.
Good for him for finally making it a priority for the Twins to get something done.
That sounds better than the 128 million that barry zito got last year from the giants that the Mets didn’t want to give up for an average ace. Now we have a Super Ace. woohooooo. When will they start selling Santana jerseys?
I certainly will be on line for a Santana jersey. Can you imagine the media frenzy for Santana? I think at the press conference SNY and every other station will get triple the ratings just to watch Santana put on a Met uniform.
I also wonder if that includes the last year on his current contract. If the EXTENSION is 6 years, I’d be somewhat surprised considering the Wilpons would be agreeing to it without insurance (covers only 5 years). Maybe a 5-year extension with a 6th year option?
Giddyup! Welcome aboard, Mr. Santana!
Thats alot better than signing Zito last year. He wanted 7, we wanted 5…the 6 years is a good deal. He will only be 35 when it is up anyway. I’ll take it.
And he’s in the driver’s seat now with these negotiations. But I think he’s well worth the investment, and certainly worth more than what the overrated Barry Zito got.
It all depends. More details need to be said…It would be nice for it to be 5 years with a 6th year option. We will hopefully find out today. Regardless…If he pitches like Johan can for 4 of those 6 years, I’ll take it.
Cerrone: [not to uh toot my own horn but uh... toot toot]
…. well desearved
Does the year currently on the books change how the insurance works on a 5 year extension? If they renegitiate a new 6 year deal is that any different than adding a 5 year extension when it comes to insuring it?
give the guy 7 years..who cares…we gave Pedro 4 and Castillo 4, if those two gusy who everyone says/said “they will get hurt and miss time” can get 4, let the guy get what he wants
and this is why my first son will be taught to throw left handed.
I was laughing yesterday at Mike and the Mad Dog. For the only few minutes they were talking about Santana, Dog said that he thinks Santana had his heart set on being a Red Sox or Yankee, but our Mr. Reliable Matt says he wanted to be a Met all along. I think I trust Matt more then stupid Mad Dog.
Matt at least looks up his information and makes sure he gets everything right before putting it up. Mike & The Maddog don’t know what they are saying most of the time, they just babble about things they have no idea about.
I’ll take Matt’s word over anybody elses that’s in the media, he works hard getting information and makes sure it’s as close to accurate as it can be. Mike & Puppy Dog feel smart by getting their information by fans that call into their show.
I was watching M&MD announce it on YES yesterday. You should have seen the puss on Mikes face. He looked absolutely disgusted about the whole thing. Having to announce the Mets got him and not his beloved Yanks.
Give him #32. Can’t wait to see Johan Koufax back in New York after 50 years….
Roll out the red carpet for the man! Get him a limo and a maid! I haven’t felt this excited ever since the Mets signed Perdo, Wagner and Delgado. Well aside from making the playoffs and making that nice catch by Endy Chavez. Well now there’s a new one I’m adding to the list! Santana!
I forget, has Pedro said anything about Santana going to the Mets? I know he was less than thrilled when Schilling took over the spotlight on the Red Sox.
He’s going to be mad about not being the #1 pitcher of the Mets……..but, when was he?
I think when Pedro came to NY his whole attitude and the way he acted changed while still being entertaining.
That was a completely different Pedro. I think Pedro will take Johan under his wing in NY and Johan and Pedro will be the top 1-2 in baseball this season.
Its not a major difference if we keep a rehabilitated Pedro #1, Im excited about Pedro still and he will remain dominant, plus 3 right handed starters to go with 2 lefties, managers like to fluctuate the rotation, think a dominant right hander in Pedro could still go first.
if not for anything else but respect and a chance to resign Pedro mid season giving time to evaluate performance.
I don’t think Pedro has said anything and at this stage of Pedro’s career, I think he’ll welcome Santana with open arms to help the Mets go to the playoffs.
Gotta agree. Pedro’s not stupid. I think he’s more than glad to hand the reins to Johan, and be there to counsel him (and Ollie, BTW). Oh–Pedro also wins 15 games this season.
I was thinking about this on Mets Today–I can’t wait for a few matchups to happen.
Johan v. Dan Haren
Johan v. Hole Camels
Johan v. Tim Hudson
Johan v. Barry Zito
22-5, 2.71 ERA, 245 Ks.
19-8 2.98 Era 260 K’s. Want to bet a beer on it? Either way I think both of us see Cy young.
If those numbers hold up I could live with that, 6/$130. He is absolutely worth that much to the Mets and with Citi and SNY and the deals Reyes and Wright are locked into it doesn’t hamper the team’s ability to attract and retain top talent.
Not to mention Pedro, Delgado, and Alou coming off the books after this season.
I for one would be quite happy if this deal was actually for the 6 year extension. That would make the entire contract 7 years for 140 million that he wants and would lock up the best pitcher in the game at market value right now. It’s worth the gamble. Imagine how much money Johan could demand in 5 years. It would be over 30 million. Think right now that 41 year old Glavine can get 10 million. Johan would only be mid 30’s at the end of a 5 year deal.
What do you guys think about adjusting the schedule a little at the begining of the season? Let Johan be the opening day starter and Pedro the home opener?
Doesn’t matter to me who goes first and who goes second. I mean, at this point, Santana is the ace of the staff, so he should pitch first and Pedro right behind him.
I would rather PEDRO ptich the Home Opener. Pedro still brings excitement.
And Johan f’n Santana won’t?
I think it would be best for the two of them to be split up by someone less like Duque in the long term.
Also, if a team is poor against lefties well Santana and Perez should both start against them. A lot more goes into it than who is better or who brings excitement.
Actually never mind. I think it might be any way based on normal rotation of Johan, Pedro, Maine, Perez, Elduque. Johan would get the last start against the Braves and Pedro would open up Shea. Man I am getting giddy.
after looking at the schedule I would hope that Johan and Pedro start in Atlanta, with Perez pitching opening day, and Duque getting into the rotation later against the Brewers.
I know they would like to get Duque into the rotation earlier, but the change to throw Johan against the Braves and Phillies in starts #2 and #3, and the chance to get Perez and Johan in the Philles series is more important.
I mean the home opener for Perez…
and chance instead of change
Good job on the Santana Met card, Matt!
Yup. What font is his name in?
That Topps 86 card brings back fond memories of my being 11 years old, and an avid baseball card collector. Meanwhile, my Mets were bound for a WS championship and my Giants were bound for a Super Bowl championship.
Hmmmmmm.
Matthew
Thank you for this site. You are doing a great service to Mets fans.
This all has gone down as you expected.
Well, whatever number the deal ends up at, it certainly is worth that 20% at the box office now, huh?
not bad….22 million a year for 6 years, thats a great deal, sign him up! i will be fitting myself for that SANTANA 57 jersey the second it comes on sale :-)
Go to ebay, they’ve been on sale since yesterday.
my unsolicited advice if you do go to ebay for Santana jerseys is do your homework before purchasing. Many of the “authentic” jerseys sold on ebay are made from kits. People buy blank jerseys, sewing patterns, separate numbers, letters, team names and patches, whip out their sewing machines and create them themselves. I know this because I’m the proud owner of a homemade “authentic” David Wright jersey courtesy of ebay. Let my experience prevent your potential disappointment. Real ones do exist, just be careful.
Like I said I would happily roll the dice and make it 6 years plus this year. Why ruin the fact that this season his contract is only 13. That’s an incredible bargin. Then add the 6 year 130.
And give him a $7 mill bonus to make this years pay seem like $20 mill.
jlazar
Make sure that jersey says Santana on the back and not Valent!
Little do you realize you’re paying for Rafael’s jersey! LOL
I know there are insurance issues, and nothing is a sure thing, but anyone who’s seen Johan pitch can see the relative ease of his delivery. His motion is practically effortless, so graceful and perfect. This guy is a great athlete in virtually every way, therefore…
I give the guy 7 years, if that’s what he wants. He’s only been on the DL once in his career (2001), and has had his best seasons, including his 2 CY-Young seasons, after he had shoulder surgery.
The Mets baseball people know what he will do no only on his own, but for the rest of the team as well.
For example, John Maine and Ollie Perez now no longer face off against other teams’ number 1 pitchers anymore, and since they are better than most teams’ #3 and #4 starters, you can probably pencil them in for a couple more wins. We all know how much it helps the bullpen, and the list goes on and on.
Be it 6 or 7 years, the Mets know what this signing/trade means For all of these reasons, this trade gets finalized, sooner rather than later.
Then we can all take a deep breath and relax a bit.
And maybe Matt can take some well-earned vacation time :-)
I agree, give him the money. It’s worth the risk, he will cost much more to resign in 5 years. It would not be 22 a year it would be 32 a year.
does this mean we won’t be getting to see more starts from jose lima or geremy gonzalez?
i had a good feeling about johan coming here ever since we got luis castillo and johan grumbled about how the twins are not committed to winning. the castillo thing really affected him i think. this trade makes up for the nonsensical kazmir trade and questionable lastings trade.
Funny thing about that Kazmir trade is that Phillips might still be here if Kazmir were not traded. There prob. would be a completely different team out there. Maybe no Reyes or Wright. No Perez or Maine and most likely no Johan. So as much as I hate the Kasmir trade at least it was the begining of hopefully a great run.
yup i totally agree. no pedro or beltran or any of those guys
Phillips did not trade Kazmir. That was Duquette.
Either way, blame him or not. He would mostly likely have stayed another year or 3.
Not for nothing but phillips gets a bad rap for some deals that were not his fault.
Alomar for the prospects was a great trade…except Robbie never showed up here. It was his twin brother Ricky
Then the Appier for Vaughn thing. Appier was not that good here and was overpaid and after one successful season was terrible in CA. But Vaughn was terrible from the moment he got here so I guess I see the logic.
Not the day to try to save the reputation of Phillips though. Bash away frankly. You guys are probably right. A much different team if Phillips is still running the show.
omar, you da man…F- Klapisch……we are the ron burgundy’s of new york baseball this week: “We’re kind of a big deal”
Mets will be going to the world series this year! I am going to find me a nice Johan jersey for opening day
This is the year we’re gonna see
baseball like it oughta be
Bring it home Mets
bring it home
Matt, awesome job with the site..I have not completed any of my work this week, b/c i have been on metsblog all day……
lets go mets
Where do these rotations now stack up against the mets?
Brandon Webb (R) Dan Haren (R) Doug Davis (L) Randy Johnson (L) Micah Owings
Josh Beckett (R) Curt Schilling (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (R) Tim Wakefield (R) Jon Lester
C.C. Sabathia (L) Fausto Carmona (R) Paul Byrd (R) Jake Westbrook (R) Aaron Laffey
Justin Verlander (R) Jeremy Bonderman (R) Dontrelle Willis (L) Kenny Rogers (L) Nate Robertson
on par with them all.
I think the Mets are at least 2/3
I would go
Dbacks (If Randy is decently healthy)
Mets
Sox
Tigers
Indians
The Sox and the Mets will be really close. I say the Mets because we have no unproven rotation memebers Who knows what the Sox will get out of Dice K and Lester this season. However, If I were a Sox fan I would prob. rate them ahead of us.
So want to start throwing some lofty predictions out yet?
Johan 18 wins
Pedro 15
Maine 15
Perez 15
Elduque/Pelfrey 12 Wins.
That’s 75 wins from the starters, that looks pretty good to me. Not to mention that I think I low balled some of those stats.
I think those are all fair stats, likely underestimated except in the case of Pedro, who won’t win 15 if he doesn’t stay healthy. There is no reason to think he won’t, though. I’ve been saying this all along, but I give the 5 spot to Pelfrey and let Duque pitch out of the pen if he has any degree of success there in spring training. I think Pelfrey could win 12 on his own if given a shot.
I think you have to start the season with Elduque. He was dominant when healthy. You, however, cant keep him healthy by placing him in the pen. If he’s going to get injured it could happen either way. It’s not from innings. Let him start the season while Pelfrey gets in form for the likely injury to Pedro or Elduque. It’s much easier to call Pelfrey up from the minors than it is to move Elduque back into the rotation.
I think the funny thing is all the Yankee fans that are bitter about this deal, and somehow want to try to make the Mets look like big spenders now, like this somehow puts the Mets in the evil empire category.
They should be reminded that while the Mets decide whether to pay Santana $22 or $23 million to pitch for them this season over the next 48 hours, the Yankees have exactly the same time frame (until Jan 31) to write their $24 million check to Bud Selig’s office as tax penalty for overpayment of their players. They receive nothing back but a receipt.
Besides they have to remember that we only added 10 million compared to what we would have paid Glavine.
Honestly, I think the Yanks did the right thing by holding onto Hughes and Kennedy. Hughes is likely going to be a star and Joba and Kennedy are on the right paths to stardom as well. I wouldn’t be upset were I a Yankee fan.
There may be some growing pains at first, but they did the right thing.
matt, i’d kill for a hi-res version of the santana card, i’ve been leaving them on people’s desks and stuff.
This deal could help develop and improve our farm system. we dont have to trade for any more pitching help our offense is in pretty good shape. taking a few quotes from MetsGeek:
<blockquote Cite=”Steve Hubbell: Santana or Youth Movement? A or B? In a dozen different forums over the past three months, the Geek community was asked to choose one or the other. No hedging allowed. Flip-floppers will be prosecuted. When I peevishly suggested two weeks ago that Santana’s arrival might actually usher in a renaissance of homegrown talent, my distinguished opponent—that’s you, John—responded with ill-concealed mirth and derision.
But how about it, folks? Now that the quarry we sought is apparently ours, what’s to stop the Mets from announcing to the world that the “core” of the team for the next half-decade is in place? Future holes in the batting order, rotation and bullpen will henceforth be filled from within, wherever possible, and by Type-Z free agents of the Easley-Anderson-Valentin stripe when not. No more extravagant free agent acquisitions that cost us dearly in draft picks. No more respectful observance of the “slotting” system. No more embarrassing courtships of Barry Zito-impersonators. Just a little tinkering around the edges to keep the whole glorious juggernaut moving forward. ”
i really see this as the start of developing talent for the next three to years by 2010 we should see some of the fruits of the labor.
This deal could help develop and improve our farm system. we dont have to trade for any more pitching help our offense is in pretty good shape. taking a few quotes from MetsGeek:
excellent points daspot!! and as previously mentioned, we have 3 of the first 32 picks in the upcoming draft.
Here’s a statement from Buster Olney in Espn that confirmed Matt’s statement about Santana preferring the Mets…
“An official with knowledge of discussions between the Twins’ front office and Santana told 1050 ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand that when Santana gave the list of teams he was willing to waive his no-trade clause for, the Mets were on top of his list.
Santana communicated to the Twins that if he had the option of any team he could go to, the Mets would be his first choice.”
Again, Kudos to you Matt!!!
It sucks that Johan won’t be starting opening day at Shea. Mets start the season on the road. How do you think they will work that out????
I think follow the natural rotation. Santana opens the season and Pedro opens Shea for its final season.
I come up with Maine or Perez (depending on who is 3 and 4) following the rotation and given the days off to start the season. Not sure though….
HAPPY JOHAN DAY EVERYBODY! Dont forget to celebrate! After all we do deserve it! GO METS!