I’ll concede Santana’s ERA has been extraordinary; however it obviously doen’t count towards winning games as strongly as I believe it should. ERA is an individual stat Wins is a key team stat, any ACE worthy of the title leasds his ‘team’ not his individuals. ERA looks nice on the back of his card, it’s sort of like Craig Swan’s pernial strikeout compilations placing him high on the Leagfue’s list, without the accompanyiong Ws totals it’s meaningless. it sort of reminds me of this pitcher’s season of:
3.49ERA,193K, 17HR 81BB,32 GS 226.2 IP, 1.22WHIP being compared to this season:
2.69ERA 200K 19HR,66BB, 32 GS,247.1 IP,1.10 WHIP
both seem to be relatively close in many individual categories and represent 2 successive seasons from an iconic NYM LH SP, JERRY KOOSMAN.
The first was 1976′s 21-10 season, tyhe second 1977′s 8-20 disaster.
Berb, my point is that basicly without the prerequisiter Ws the rest don’t matter at ALL! 3 seasons of 16,13 & 11 Ws as the total compilation of Santana is unacceptable & highly disappointing from a socalled,sopaid ‘ACE’

Wityh those levels of Wins, I fail to see the difficulty in replacing them.
No, Capuano’s talent shouldn’t belong in the same sentence with Santana’s; but actually reality says it does and that’s unacceptabe to me.

THE EMPEROR SANTANA IS BAREASSED NAKED! OPEN YOUR EYES & he’d not even on a golf course(low blow; but remarkably funny in a gallows humor sort of way)

I mean, if Johan goes 6 and gives up 2 runs, we (maybe unfairly) get a little disappointed. So saying Cap did it for 5 starts at the end of last year, while encouraging, really doesn’t spell “adequate replacement” for me.

And not to belabor the point (probably too late) but Cap has had an ERA under 4 once in his career, and since ’02, Johan hasn’t had an ERA above 3.50 (the closest he came was 3.33 in ’07).

THIS. So well said. For serious, I think that’s the best explanation of Sandy’s fringe signings vs. Omar’s fringe signings I’ve seen, and I waste a LOT of time at work reading Mets blogs

“Strong bastions are built out of bricks & mortar, we’ve upgraded the mortar holding our solid bricks in position”

That is just poetic. Seriously no joke your way with words at times is just fun to read.

We had an author at my blog that had a similar way with words.

and that is a big reason why losing johan, while it will hurt, won’t necessarily lead to fewer wins. If say capuano (his replacement) can pitch like he did the end of last year, keeping the team in games, and the offense steps it back up, capu could easily replace the wins.

now, it might keep the Mets from adding as many wins as they could, but it isn’t going to mean they win fewer games.

Dude, really? You’re looking at wins/losses and deciding that Johan is “far from irreplaceable” and that Cap is anywhere NEAR comparable?

You neglect to mention that in that 16 win season, he also lead the league in ERA and Innings Pitched, and was 2nd in the league in strikeouts.

And good god man, I shouldn’t have to point out how many of Johan’s “losses” or no decisions were the result of having NO offense. How many times in the past 3 years have you watched Johan go 7 or 8 innings, give up 1 or 2 runs, and STILL not get the decision??

Johan is a LEGIT ace. And just because I’ll bet you don’t like sabre stats:
Cap’s 18-11 2005 Season: 107 ERA+ (league average for ERA+ is always 100)
Johan’s 16-7 2008 Season: 161 ERA+

Ollir Perez was obviously the Mets’ second choice & unfortunately for them the same uberagent represented both of their top choices, Perez & Lowe. attempting to outbid Atlanta’s successful 4/48M offer would have been just as unacceptable as Perez turned out to be.
It’s certainly true that nearly every gamble that was taken during Minaya’s reign failed making bad luck the only kind of luck to be foyund in Blue&Orange. Fortunately Alderson’s gambles are not substantially make/break variety with long odds. they are far more educated gambles based upon statistical strengths not relying on repeated highpoints. players signed seemed to have been done so based more upon their usual production not their best production levels. A solid case can be made to support this roster’s winning 84-86 games, not 90+ based upon former top performances by many players simultaneously. I’m somewhat comforted in the continuity of the critics who similarly diiscounted Phl’s adding Werth/Victorino as the same people discounting Hairston/Emaus. Strong bastions are built out of bricks & mortar, we’ve upgraded the mortar holding our solid bricks in position just as the opponents that suprisingly out perform us have done these past few years.

1st it was you was tired about the whole Plate appearnce thing and now your getting tired of highlighting Johan’s absence as a deterent.

Sounds like your getting ehausted.

The point is “no one” knows who will be the 2b yet.

if he can’t prove on the field, in games, during ST that he can handle the job, he won’t get it.

also the reason Castillo will be in camp. If all the younger guys totally bomb out/get hurt, they will use him as a last resort.

I am also on the Havens bandwagon. If he can get over his habit of muscle tweaks and stay on the field, he should be the future at 2B.

I’m also getting very tired of everybody’s highlighting Johan’s absence as a significan deterant. Santana’s best year as a Met was 16 victories. his absence is far from irreplacable on the field than most presume while it’s certainly a far stretch the singular past contibutions of Capuano’s ’05 season surpases, in my mind. Santana’s of ’07 in as much as,
In 2007, Santana went 16-7 for an 88-74 team
In 2005, Capuano went 18-11 for an 81-81 team.
Santana is 32 yrs old & lefthanded
Capuano is 33 yes old & lefthanded.
Both are surgical returns.
I WILL CONCEDE THAT SANTANA IS THE STRONGER WARRIOR/COMPETITOR.

Capouano has a distinct advantage by drawing typically weaker mound opponents. Which may certainly favor his contibution level this season even should Johan return early(unlikely)
It is my belief that the loss of Santana is being treated by the media/fans/soothsayers/prognosticators/guessers as equivilent to the loss of a Sabathia, Haladay or Lincicum which statisically is unfounded. When even an inadequate replacement starter might contibute 7 or 8 Ws over an entire season the overall loss is only the delta between what Johan can be penciled in for & what the replacement actually delivers.
Over his 3 seasons as a Met Santana has contibuted 16,13 & 11 Ws sequentially, should the replacement supply 7 the actual loss felt will be more closely to 5-6Ws, not 15-16 as many are believing. Sorry about highlighting Emperor Johan’s nakedness; but it’s certainly no reason for despair!
I’ve yet to see anyone point out that the Mets could actually give Reyes that 17-18M/y contract & still be cutting this year’s payroll by 11M by reassigning the Beltran accrued amount to Jose & saving the $ paid to both of them in overlap. The key is to not go overboard for a RFer to replace Pagan as he slides into CF, economically & effectively.

With a year under his belt he could have been a more than credible LFer. 2B, were gonna find out but I’m not all that optomistic but I am hoping.

As I’ve said before I wish the Mets just would have gone ahead and made Murphy a catcher 1n 2007 rather than trying to jackass him in everywhere.

He may be very good, I don’t know, I’ve never seen him in the majors Then again, neither have you.

Tejada belongs in the minors another year or so, he’s so young and it won’t hurt him, but I think that kid has a bright future and handled himself very well for 20 years old.

I really think it’s gonna be Emaus but that is just a prediction.