Daily Archives: February 1, 2008
Kelly Theiser at MLB.com adds to the belief that the negotiations surrounding a potential record setting contract will go right up to the deadline, saying…
“For the Twins, it’s a waiting game to see if the deal will indeed be completed. The club has not commented publicly on the situation, but they have been keeping in close contact with Santana’s agent, Peter Greenberg.
All indications so far are that talks between the Mets and Greenberg will run right up to today’s 4 p.m. CT deadline.”
Theiser also mentions the chance of the deadline being extended…
“There is a possibility that the deadline could be extended. Major League Baseball has granted such requests in the past, such as the case when Randy Johnson was traded from Arizona to the Yankees in 2005. But for that to happen, the two sides must show to the league that they are indeed close to reaching agreement on an extension.”
…i’ve been of the belief all along that this will get done at the deadline, and i still think that…but it’s nice to know an extension might be an option considering it’s likely the two sides will be at least be close…
Joe Frisaro at MLB.com says that discussions about moving the July 28-30 series between the Mets and the Marlins to San Juan, Puerto Rico are back on.
…probably not the ‘discussions’ everyone was hoping for an update on, but maybe a minor distraction to kill some time until 4:59…
In a recent report for ESPNNews, Buster Olney claims that the Mets are, according to a source, “cautiously optimistic” that a deal with Johan Santana will be completed by today’s 5 p.m. ET deadline. Olney reports that the deal will likely be closer to Santana’s wishes than to the Mets’ due to the leverage that Santana now has.
Olney did not report a length for the discussed deal, but said that the amount could be around $150 million.
Tagged Johan Santana |In a recent post at FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal cites “major league sources” and says that the Mets and Johan Santana‘s agents are still haggling over the structure of a proposed deal.
Rosenthal writes:
“The Mets’ offer is in the range of $22 million per season. The hang-up is that the Mets want the guarantee to be for five years, with vesting options that could extend the deal, sources say.”
He goes on to suggest ways the team and pitcher could compromise, including a large signing bonus or an adjustment to “the innings threshold on vesting options to make them more easily attainable for Santana.”
Tagged Johan Santana |
The Braves have announced that LHP Mike Hampton will be 100 percent when spring training begins next month.
Hampton has missed most of the last two seasons with a variety of injures, ranging from his elbow to his hamstring.
…if hampton is healthy, i do worry about atlanta’s front four, including him, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Tim Hudson…that is serious…
…we can only hope that glavine struggles against his old team, the Mets, like he initially did against the Braves after signing with the Mets…somehow, though, i doubt that will happen…
In six starts against the Mets last season, Smoltz was 2–1 with a 3.55 ERA, while Hudson went 2–2 in four starts with a 3.33 ERA.
Glavine was on the Mets, while Hampton was on the disabled list.
In a report for the New York Post, citing the player’s agent, Pedro Martinez wants to play beyond 2008, “As long as he’s able to pitch without the discomfort and the pain.”
Martinez will be a free agent at the end of next season.
In five starts during September last season, 
Martinez was 3–1 with a 2.57 ERA during which he struck out 32 batters and walked just seven through 28 innings pitched.
…it was such a painful month, i often forget just how good he was…
Yesterday at his blog for Newsday, David Lennon pointed out that he is the only one, out of a few baseball writers who he spoke with recently, who believes Martinez will win at least 15 games this season.
…well, based on what pedro did in September, while factoring in a hiccup here and there, he should win 15 games…the question is: can he duplicate that performance from last season, and can he be healthy and consistent…all of which remain to be seen…
Tagged Pedro Martinez |In a Q&A for MetsGeek, John Peterson interviews SNY’s Ted Berg about sabermetrics, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana, next year’s batting order, the work of Omar Minaya, and how be started working for SNY, among other things.
In Newsday, Ken Davidoff explains that there are two unanimous predictions within the baseball industry when it comes to the Mets 
and Johan Santana, 1) They will come to an agreement on Santana’s contract extension by Friday afternoon’s 5 o’clock deadline, and 2) they won’t complete that agreement until 4:59.
…and 3) i will blow throw 11 bottles of Pepto Bismol over the next 10 hours…
According to the Daily News, “Multiple baseball officials expressed confidence that the deal would be completed by the 5 p.m. deadline.”
…as i wrote yesterday afternoon, my sense is that they’ll eventually work out a scenario that will pay santana just over $20 million per season through five years, with a solid signing bonus to cover this coming year, and an easily attainable option year, that when all added up will give the player the seven-years and money he had been seeking…
According to Davidoff, Santana will likely get a six-year extension worth roughly $23 million a year, on top of the $13.25 million owed to him this season, adding, “A signing bonus could be included that would take the total to just over $150 million.”
Yesterday, at SI.com, Jon Heyman wrote that, although the Mets and Santana’s agents were roughly $20 million apart on the total value of the deal, “high-ranking baseball people believe the deal is all but certain to get done” before tomorrow’s 5 pm deadline.
…look, from what i understand, a) as i have been saying for months, as Andrew Marchand had been suggesting for months, as Torri Hunter recently said, and as Buster Olney recently reported, santana wants to be on the Mets and has wanted to be on the Mets since the start of the off-season, b) he does not want to go back to Twins and re-start this process, and c) he wants the money and the contract before the start of spring training for obvious reasons…plus, d) the Mets have no choice but to get this deal done…so, while i am naturally worried because i am a Mets fan, i know that a deal will get done…
Kelly Theiser at MLB.com writes about Carlos Gomez‘s reaction to the trade and how excited he is about the opportunity to be an every day center fielder.
Theiser quotes Gomez as saying…
“The only thing I heard about was Santana, Santana, Santana. Nothing in the news was said about Gomez, or nothing about the other players traded to the Twins. But I think all us prospects have the tools to play in the big leagues.”
…after signing with the Mets at the age of 16, gomez probably feels a bit scorned…but, it seems like he’ll embrace the possibility of playing centerfield every day for the Twins...i wish him well and fully expect him to develop into a solid ball player…
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