No 'han, literally

[G-Fafif]

Johan going in for more surgery, out for season, done as a Met, presumably.

[MFS62]

The human being in me wishes him well.
The fan in me wonders if there is an insurance policy that will pay (at least part of) his salary.

Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's one I nailed:

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I don't know about no 3.60 ERA but I'm expecting more of the 8.27 Santana ERA. Ordinarily, I'd add that I hope I'm dead wrong, me being a Met fan and all, but this year, I think that I could care less about Santana. In my eyes, I've written him off. I think he's done. Fork done. I actually think it's comical the way many fans were hoping that he could pitch Opening Day. Hope I'm dead wrong, though, what with me being a Met fan and all.

The guy's had more surgeries than body parts ferchrissakes.

[Centerfield]

Awful. Like Pedro before him I loved Johan more than he deserved given the injuries. Great determination on the mound. One of my favorite Mets of recent times.

Guess we don't have to worry about that option.

[metirish]

With the $5 million buyout he is owed $30 + million , per SNY just now.....

[G-Fafif]

Here's one I nailed: I don't know about no 3.60 ERA but I'm expecting more of the 8.27 Santana ERA. Ordinarily, I'd add that I hope I'm dead wrong, me being a Met fan and all, but this year, I think that I could care less about Santana. In my eyes, I've written him off. I think he's done. Fork done. I actually think it's comical the way many fans were hoping that he could pitch Opening Day. Hope I'm dead wrong, though, what with me being a Met fan and all. The guy's had more surgeries than body parts ferchrissakes.

Joe Namath never threw again in Flushing after looking in December 1976 how Johan did in August 2012. Can't claim precise prescience, but I had a feeling, I guess, that we might have seen the last of a great arm.

[metirish]

Centerfield wrote: Awful. Like Pedro before him I loved Johan more than he deserved given the injuries. Great determination on the mound. One of my favorite Mets of recent times. Guess we don't have to worry about that option.

yeah, good comparison with Pedro......some great, great nights.....2008 Johan was great, sucks.

[Ceetar]

I'd do it all again.

[TransMonk]

Boo!!! (At the situation, not Jonan.) Well, at least I wasn't counting on him for much this season.

Makes me want to see in the big leagues Wheeler NOW!

[metirish]

Listening to Burkhardt on SNY and he made some pointed comments on Wheeler after Carlin set him up by mentioning Alserson saying Wheeler would not be coming up.. to paraphrase KB " we all know he is ready, there is not a scout or person I talk to that says differently, but for various reasons like money, eligibility and impact on free agency the Mets will not bring him up, he'll probably be up by the end of May".

[MFS62]

MFS62 wrote: The fan in me wonders if there is an insurance policy that will pay (at least part of) his salary.

Found the answer.
The contract is NOT insured.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/21965886/johan-santana-has-a-probable-retear-of-left-shoulder-capsule

Later

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: Listening to Burkhardt on SNY and he made some pointed comments on Wheeler after Carlin set him up by mentioning Alserson saying Wheeler would not be coming up.. to paraphrase KB " we all know he is ready, there is not a scout or person I talk to that says differently, but for various reasons like money, eligibility and impact on free agency the Mets will not bring him up, he'll probably be up by the end of May".

I don't think the _Mets_ are 100% convinced Wheeler is ready. He got almost no AAA time, and they want to stick to HIS plan regardless of the situation of the other guys. It's funny though, how crystal clear the Mets have been with Wheeler not starting with the Mets. he didn't get a September call up. He didn't get invited to major league camp. They've always said he's not going to start the season with them. And yet it's still brought up like people expect the Mets to go back on a plan.

[Lefty Specialist]

There's no point to bringing up Wheeler now. He's not going to be the crucial difference in a pennant-winning season or anything. Keep him down, let him dominate AAA and bring him up when the deadline for controlling him for an extra year passes. Not a difficult call.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

on a more positive note there will be a new blog entry on mets by the numbers soon.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This news made me... shrug. While I was hoping that Johan would pitch well enough in the early part of the season to be tradeable, much like Beltran was, I thought that wasn't all that likely. I'm glad he was a Met; I don't regret losing the players that the Mets sent to Minnesota for Santana but overall he certainly wasn't worth the money that he was paid.

As for Wheeler, he has to stay in the minors for the first 20 days of the season in order for his free agency to be delayed by a year. I think it's worth waiting that long. He'd have to stay down a bit longer for arbitration to be delayed, but I think the delay of free agency is more important. I think we'll see Zack as a Met by early May.

[Fman99]

It makes me sad to think I won't ever see another performance by him in a Mets jersey.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Sucks. Wondering if he ripped it when he got on the mound to prove to the Mets he's not a lazy ass. Whatever he decides, he should change his facial hair. It's time.

[Edgy MD]

Wheeler indeed got invited to Major League camp.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Wheeler indeed got invited to Major League camp.

oops. yeah, I meant that he was with the first cuts and they were always clear that he wasn't competing for a spot.

[Frayed Knot]

Well, this news shouldn't change any immediate plans for Wheeler since Johan was already out for April at least with no Wheeler in sight.
That this latest tidbit could move things up a bit is certainly a possibility since, as Grimm points out, delaying Wheeler's potential FA sked by a year is a lot more important than merely putting off arbitration by the same amount so we may see him as early as early May if things are going well rather than mid-June or later.

Wheeler's main obstacle right now is his occasional lack of control. As such it certainly would hurt to give him a month or more in Lost Wages to deal with it rather than trying to doing the same vs ML hitters in lousy weather in April.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

This is not Wheeler-related news. This is Laffey-related (and possibly Chris Young-related?) news.

Johan will be the last Met (chronologically) whose jersey I ever purchase for myself.

[Edgy MD]

Calling Chris Young!
Are you there, Chris Young?!

[Frayed Knot]

The problem with Young is that he's going to want some assurance of a ML starting job right off the bat -- since if he was willing to bide his time in the minors he could have stayed with Washington -- and do we really think he's a decent step up from Marcum or Hefner?
Maybe yes, maybe no - but it's certainly not a slam dunk one way or the other.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

From Marcum? Not if he's good for 25 starts-plus, post-cortisone.

From Hefner? Almost certainly.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think Marcum is part of the issue. He's the Mets' number two starter as of this cold March evening.

But with a rotation of...
1. J. Niese
2. S. Marcum
3. M. Harvey
4. D. Gee
5. J. Hefner

... with Laffey as an extra, I wouldn't hold out too much hope for a much better situation to open up. If you show anything in your first two or three starts in the minors, you're up. You show anything once you're up, you're probably the number four guy right quick. Plus it's a familiar environment, the coaches know you, you know where to find good pizza. Yadda, yadda.

Plus, he's one of the few pitchers that have had Johan's surgery. If they sign Young, they can make him strip to down and demonstrate why it's holding.

[Ceetar]

McHugh. I don't know why people (Mets included from the rumors) seem to be skipping the 'on the 40 man' guy.

And I don't want Young. rather Hefner for sure.

[batmagadanleadoff]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Johan will be the last Met (chronologically) whose jersey I ever purchase for myself.

Why?

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Johnny Damon is still available and can pitch:

Here's one I nailed: I don't know about no 3.60 ERA but I'm expecting more of the 8.27 Santana ERA. Ordinarily, I'd add that I hope I'm dead wrong, me being a Met fan and all, but this year, I think that I could care less about Santana. In my eyes, I've written him off. I think he's done. Fork done. I actually think it's comical the way many fans were hoping that he could pitch Opening Day. Hope I'm dead wrong, though, what with me being a Met fan and all. The guy's had more surgeries than body parts ferchrissakes.

I tried to retrieve a post I made in February 2008, less than 10 posts into my Crane Pool career (the gist of it being that some scouts believed the Mets didn't do proper due diligence on Johan's health) but the archives only cover in-season months.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The Second Spitter wrote: ...but the archives only cover in-season months.

That's not true.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Johan will be the last Met (chronologically) whose jersey I ever purchase for myself. Why?

An age thing, mostly. (Both mine and his, relative to mine.)