Despite Wanting To Compete, Almost No Chance Santana Will Play In WBC

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• DMets3 January 18, 2013 at 3:40 pm

  The Mets front office will be very concern.
• Matt Balasis January 18, 2013 at 3:44 pm

  When was the last time Santana pitched a full season? Ridiculous.
• Mr North Jersey January 18, 2013 at 3:57 pm

  My understanding is if Santana wants to participate and the WBC clears and insures him the Mets are unable to keep a player from participating in the WBC. Rubin’s article states that final rosters are due Feb. 20 so we should know in about a month if Santana indeed will participate or not.
  • Fonzie13 January 18, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    He’s not allowed to participate being that he spent the end of the season on the DL. That’s a Rule. Either a WBC rule or a MLB rule, I’m not sure which one but I do know he can’t do it even if he wanted to.
• Todd January 18, 2013 at 4:06 pm

  Great now we will be lucky to get 12 starts out of Mr. Glass.
• Metsie January 18, 2013 at 4:21 pm

  If I’m the Mets I tell Sanatana you can do what you want provided you take out a 25 Million dollar insurance policy that pays your Salary if you get hurt at anypoint this year….

  YOUR PAYING!
  • Hank January 18, 2013 at 5:14 pm

    This is the only way the Mets can allow him to pitch in the WBC. Get him to take out an insurance policy that pays when the inevitable injury comes. Most Mets fans know that Santana is an injury waiting to happen, adding more innings and stress to the arm instead of prepping for the long season ahead is a recipe for disaster.
• VitaminCM January 18, 2013 at 4:23 pm

  What happens if he pitches a few games in the WBC, then comes to spring training and blows out his arm in week two?
  Yeah exactly.
  It would be nice though if he did blow up, and let the Mets out of the 31 million. You know that even if that happened, the Insurance company would go belly-up before they actually paid out.
• ifthevansrockin January 18, 2013 at 4:53 pm

  pretty sure the Mets really have no say in this (officially at least).

  Wright does not bother me. But pitching in general, and santana in particular, I don’t want to see participating. No matter how much or little they make.
• Matt January 18, 2013 at 4:53 pm

  Who cares? Seriously, does anyone really care that Johan is pitching in this? It’s his last year with the Mets and the team will be lucky to win 70 games with him or without him. If he gets hurt in this exhibition, at least it will give an opportunity to someone who is, potentially, in the future plans for the Mets to make the rotation. Johan Santana is an afterthought at this point for the New York Mets.
  • ifthevansrockin January 18, 2013 at 4:59 pm

    what if he prepares correctly, paces himself, and is healthy and having a good year come July, and a team desperate for pitching will trade for him, so the mets at least get something back? That is still better than him blowing out his arm in a March exhibition game and missing the year.

    though given the met financial issues, if he really does get insured and that pays off his salary, it would probably help the team more!

    personally, I think he is going to have a good year. He was pitching very well even after his no hitter, up until he got trampled by pie boy. If he is at the same point come late July this year, plenty of teams would be happy to have him. Assuming, of course, the mets don’t need him to stay in the playoff race!
    • Matt January 18, 2013 at 10:50 pm

      “He was pitching very well even after his no hitter,”…Probably the most inaccurate statement in the history of this site…however, I guess all opinions are different. To me, the following 2 games after his no-no where he gave up 10 earned runs in 10 innings pitched with 4 HRs allowed would be the opposite of pitching “very well.” But, like I said, everyone’s opinions differ.
      • ifthevansrockin January 18, 2013 at 11:06 pm

        well, first of all, you need to read more. I have done the analysis a few times, but for you, will do a nickle version again.

        I was looking at the 5 games after his No No. I stopped there because the game after that was where he was trampled, effectively ending his season (I really thought that ankle was broken).

        5 games, 30 IP (6/start), 3.6 ERA, 1.23 whip, 25Ks. So, not quite what he had been doing, but very solid #s.

        However, that includes the 1st game back, on ill advised extra rest (johan and TC both admitted that hurt him).

        take that out, and the next 4 games (rest of July, up to trample game): 25 IP (6.25/game), 20Ks, 3-1 record, 1.16 WHIP and a 2.16 ERA. IOW, he was pitching at a Cy Young level.

        going into the no no, his season ERA was 2.75. At the end of the 5th game after, it was 2.76.

        So yes, based on my memory, supported by these #s, I stand by my statement that after the No No, he was cruising right along, pitching quite well.
• Peter January 18, 2013 at 5:03 pm

  There is not much to discuss, he us not going to pitch in the WBC and should not anyway.
• JeffMcKnight'sGlasses January 18, 2013 at 5:06 pm

  There hasn’t been any evidence linking the WBC to more injuries. Jason Stark actually wrote an article a few days ago – showing players who participated in the WBC were actually less likely to have early season injuries and/or start the season on the DL than non-WBC players. There might be some fault with that data – some players who already had injury concerns might decline the WBC and teams might be more apt to avoid DLing their better players (and better players re also more likely to play in the WBC). But thus far it doesn’t appear that the WBC adds risk.

  That said given Johan has been hurt so much in recent years – I’d rather he not throw any more innings in the pre-season than he needs to. But I still don’t see this as a “typical Mets” issue. Johan is the one who wants to play. The Mets aren’t forcing him into it.
  • ifthevansrockin January 18, 2013 at 5:11 pm

    sounds like selection bias. Because guys that are rehabbing, already hurt, etc. normally don’t play, the ones that do are less likely to be hurt.

    ALmost like an insurance company only insuring healthy, young fit people. Good way to pay our less in claims!

    But johan has had serious injuries recently, and missed a lot of time. So there is very reasonable concern that he has a limited amount of innings in his arm this year, and they should not be wasted in the WBC. That, and looks like a guy that really should prep and ease into the year slowly.
    • JeffMcKnight'sGlasses January 18, 2013 at 5:42 pm

      Yea agreed about the potential for selection bias – which is what I was talking about when saying guys with injury concerns are more likely to turn the WBC down…so that might skew the data somewhat. So I don’t believe that the WBC actually leads to decreased risk for injury as the article insinuates. But I don’t think its likely that there were enough guys who fit that bill – (i.e. turned down the WBC b/c they had an injury issue and then ended up starting the season on the DL) to completely reverse the results (make the WBC look protective when its was actually harmful)

      And in addition to the WBC/non-WBC player comparisons, they also reported early season DL rates were lower in the two years off the WBC than in other years (though didn’t report whether the differences were significant). And the data in that article just talked about early season/pre-season injuries – they didn’t look at the whole season. So I don’t believe the WBC is “protective” but to this point I haven’t seen any real evidence indicating it’s harmful/leads to more injuries.

      And ST injuries overall are not uncommon. The Mets had tons of injuries last spring. For the most part anytime you are playing there is the potential for injury – whether it be ST or the WBC. I think some of the risk might be if a guy is unprepared or perhaps if a guy sustains an injury in the WBC and tries to play through it where if it were just ST, he’d sit out for a bit.
      • jessep January 18, 2013 at 6:08 pm

        People think you’re me? You’re way smarter than me lol
        • ifthevansrockin January 18, 2013 at 11:07 pm

          and I hear much better looking.
          • Metsie January 19, 2013 at 2:30 pm

            He only looks better because he has McKnight’s Glasses on improving his vision…..
• Just-Da-Damaja January 18, 2013 at 6:25 pm

  “They made Santana rich beyond his wildest dreams, but never pitched one playoff game for them.”

  thats a tad unfair…

  if every player on this squad played like Johan, we go to the playoffs from 2008-2010
  • ifthevansrockin January 18, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    thank you Tom Glavine!
  • MetsWatchman January 19, 2013 at 8:42 am

    Agreed JDD…….the Mets signed a great pitcher to great money and then failed to field a team that would get him some run support, or a bullpen to effectively save his games. Shame on them for not protecting their investment and having it translate into team W’s. He pitched brilliantly the first few years and was a joy to watch.
  • Metsie January 19, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    Very True JDD….

    And to ask Johan to be the ONLY one on that team is probably what led to his injuries that he has had lately….

    Johan is a competitor, NO ONE can dispute that!
    And Johna did everything he could AND MORE to try and keep this team in the playoffs. That AND MORE is what stressed his body out and caused injuries.

    They needed another good #2 Pitcher to take some of the load from him. Then maybe he wouldn’t have pitched like he was trying to get two wins in one outing.

    And the fact that others got hurt really killed us not what we paid him.
    Johan will always be a good signing in my book. If his salary seems wasted now it’s because of what everyone around him did not his own doing.
• jerseymet January 19, 2013 at 1:02 am

  So let me get this straight….last year Dickey climbed the mountain to do- as he saw it – Gods work. The Wilpons made it clear, that to do so, Dickey proceeded at his own peril. Now Santanta, a national Hero, wishes to add extra innings to the 2013 season.

  The crux of this article is insurance….will it Guarantee that Johan will pitch in September?

  Wipoons, channel your inner Madoff. This insurance could get you out of Santana’s horrible contract.
• RickeyBobby January 19, 2013 at 8:07 am

  Santana playing WBC is like Strasburg declaring he wants to play WBC and forgo pitching in the playoffs. Santana obviously broke down early last season because he had a tired arm, in part because he worked so hard to be ready by opening day, his spring training started in Dec last season. We just lost a cy young award winner and 220 innings, the last thing we need is Santana prepping for WBC to lose him to a tired arm again late summer.

  I think his massive contract should come into his decision making since he was unhealthy for a big part of it..you would think the right thing to do is be more committed to your job and organization that you are being paid by, not to mention a fan base that want to watch you play, healthy !!

  I like Santana a lot, awesome competitor/guy/teammate..but if he goes to WBC ill lose a lot of respect or him
  • JeffMcKnight'sGlasses January 19, 2013 at 3:20 pm

    That seems unnecessarily harsh. I don’t think its fair to question his commitment to the Mets just b/c he wants to pitch in the WBC. If he thought it was some big risk, he probably wouldn’t do it. Even if we were to be that cynical and say he doesn’t care about the Mets (which doesn’t seem to be true)…he’d have other motives ($$$$$) for skipping the WBC if he thought it would hurt him. If it impacts his health or his season – that would effect the kind of contract he gets at the end of this season.

    I’d rather he not do it for some of the reasons you said – I’d rather he not throw those extra pitches/not start his prep any earlier than he has to. But I wouldn’t “lose respect” for him or question his commitment to the Mets for playing in the WBC… I think its cool that Johan and others actually do want to play in the tournament.

    And really even the talk of the Mets being burned by the WBC – with Wright, Perez, Putz – is a bit exaggerated and not really relevant to Santana. Ollie’s problem was that he got off schedule and didn’t throw enough, Putz was damaged goods and had the bone spur before coming to the Mets, and Wright fouled a ball off his foot – something that can just as easily happen in ST as the WBC. Half the team got hurt in ST last year. As long as players are smart about things and don’t try to push it if they aren’t ready or “play through” an injury they wouldn’t play though in ST it shouldn’t be a big deal.
• Paul January 19, 2013 at 2:13 pm

  I don’t understand all the complaining. Why would you want a player not to compete in the WBC.

  The first argument is it means nothing – just an exhibition. But the WBC is just a place for athletes to compete – just like the MLB season. It is entertainment. I will enjoy seeing Santana and any other Met in the WBC, and live with the results. Yes, we love when the Mets win – but it doesn’t change anything about you life, you don’t stand to make a dime off of it – how about enjoying the season and find things to complain about the effect you, like our shitty government.

  Another thing is this babying of players. People are so scared of injuries that they make the players miss time to avoid missing time. Injuries are unpredictable at best – just let the players play and see what happens.

  I am sick of people on this site, you disgust me to be a fellow fan.
  • Joe D January 19, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    If people you disagree with regarding baseball disgusts you, I can recommend a good shrink. You may want to tone it down and try taking an adult approach. You may find that baseball is a pastime and that your disgust should be reserved for terrorists, pedophiles, and murderers.
    • Paul January 19, 2013 at 3:34 pm

      It is not that people disagree that disgusts me, it’s the mindset of the common Mets’ fan. Bitter. Get over it. Enjoy the WBC, cheer for Johan.
      Maybe if people in this town treated its players better, they would show some soft of loyalty that you are looking for.
      You wonder why you are always disappointed with the Mets – it is a self fulfilling prophecy. For the past few years fans have nothing good to say, and anyone who hints at something positive is crushed by others here on the forums.
      You should be cheering Johan Santana on for competing in something that is important to him. As long as this kind of thinking continues to persist, the Mets will not be winning anything anytime soon.
      Blaming the WBC on Oliver Perez is nonsense, he is a head case at best. And if the WBC is a waste, then certainly most of Spring Training is also a waste.
      And by the way, we are the terrorists in this world buddy. Be glad your not in another country getting attacked by a predator drone cause a “suspected terrorist” might be in the area.
• jessep January 19, 2013 at 2:54 pm

  The WBC adjusted pitch count max’s for this year so pitchers are on an even stricter diet of throwing. I really don’t have a problem with anybody joining their country’s team in WBC. If they are gonna get hurt, it will happen anyway. The players and coaches are wise enough to know how far they need to push themselves in the WBC. Next thing you know we’ll be getting mad that players play in spring games.
• Hotstreak January 19, 2013 at 11:33 pm

  Joe

  Is that yours “NY Mets Report”. I by chance found it on the web and like it. I especially liked the non-super star free agents we did not sign.
• oleosmirf February 4, 2013 at 4:08 pm

  The idea that a player is more likely to get injured in a WBC game than a ST game is complete nonsense.

  He’s going to be pitching regardless of whether its the WBC, Grapefruit League, split squad or minor league game. The chance of injury is the same regardless of how “hard they try”
  • jessep February 4, 2013 at 4:14 pm

    you’re right and the WBC has very strict innings rules.
  • ifthevansrockin February 4, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    the concern (in theory) is that they will start earlier, and try to ramp it up quicker. So instead of structured build up, they will more “jump into the fire”. Plus, the odds are they will get pumped up and overthrow in a game for national pride, as opposed to a “get in some work” ST game vs. the Pirates.

    so while ultimately the total # of innings may not be much different, it is how they get there that is.
• SaltyGary February 4, 2013 at 5:13 pm

  Off Topic:

  In what is an amazing and probably unintentional troll move, trying to go to the MMO chat page leads the person directly to a smiling picture of Sandy. Well played Joe D.