Glad you found that article because of the point I touched on regarding Sandy intentionally misleading fans by implying Johann would return in 2011 much sooner than many expected when he himself knew better.

I remember Sandy saying that in an interview with Mike Francesa. Here is an Adam Rubin report from February of that year confirming the same thing.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6132335

And yet here is a report quoting un-named Mets officials painting an entirely different story:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/13/report-johan-santana-may-miss-all-of-the-2011-season/

Again, why can’t the Mets level with their fans in at least situations like this? Saying nothing is better than lying……

….. and this is an example of Sandy doing exactly that with the media. That’s why I don’t trust him with what he says – regardless of how frank and though out he might sound.

That’s also why so many of us don’t believe he has any real “plan” to build a competitor more than discarding of all expensive players and hoping that a combination of inexpensive rejects and prospects can maybe turn the trick. His main focus has been trying to assure the Wilpons can afford to pay their bills and not lose money at the same time for his actions speaks for themselves.

Alderson traded RA Dickey KNOWING Johan ended 2012 injured and would rest and come back in decent shape…NOT opening day shape…

His arm has not responded…so they are taking a step back…

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/sports/baseball/16santana.html?_r=0

Thanks.

and that is exactly what you are doing….

do u find it a bit curious that this comes now?

and you are down in Florida arent you?

how badly out of shape does Johan look to you?

“It’s because the Wilpons are responsible for the above is why, as pointed out before, we can’t trust them to give us a simple honest appraisal of the situation. And, it’s because more and more mainstream journalism has taken the route of the National Inquirer that we can’t trust what we read anymore from those we thought in the past were reputable reporters.”

“The Mets were surprised Santana wasn’t in pitch shape, and couldn’t quite understand why Santana thought he could pitch for Venezuela in the WBC when they determined he wasn’t ready to throw for them”.

This is where I have trouble and why so many might notice I am hesitant with third party statements that are not accompanied by some sort of backup material.

While Heyman was able to quote Sandy’s text (which I still see as an observation more than a comment) there is no backup verifying their surprise and confusion. I would like to see even an unnamed source at least quoted rather than being inferred. As a reader, I have no idea how accurately his report reflects some in the Met front office. Yes, he could have been told something “off the record” – and I’m sure as a professional journalist he does his vetting – but I’ve seen too often when one is “reporting” the news he is also interjecting his own opinion or analysis without directly stating so.

Unless Heyman could be more specific and verify that we have no way of knowing if was also interjecting his own opinion, what he said his accurate or that he was spinning a story for himself and those who employ him for the sake of tabloid journalism.

Also, due to their own actions in the past, we just don’t know what the organization itself rell thinks. Are the Mets angry or disappointed or did they know arm fatigue was a possibility heading into training camp? Did they believe with the physical regiment Johann was following during the off-season that his arm would be ready and so once again are in the act of covering up their own miscalculations or not heeding the cautionary advice of medical experts- as we’ve seen over the years with their handling of injuries Bay, Wright, Ike, Church and others? Or were they hoping to keep things quiet regarding Santana so not to affect ticket sales (like they did with holding back Beltran’s surgery during the winter season ticket sales campaign or Sandy the following year we might very well be surprised how quickly Johann comes back when Santana afterwards said maybe not until August and it eventually became the entire year) or Reyes (he’ll probably be fine for the all-star game when being told a stint on the DL was almost inevitable)?

It’s because the Wilpons are responsible for the above is why, as pointed out before, we can’t trust them to give us a simple honest appraisal of the situation. And, it’s because more and more mainstream journalism has taken the route of the National Inquirer that we can’t trust what we read anymore from those we thought in the past were reputable reporters.

So I just don’t know.

Rooting your team on requires you to be within earshot of the team while they are playing the game!

He got a charley Horse in his arm and they went into a panic thinking it was an injury when all it was really is a lack of work that left him sore….

The underlying story is Santana isn’t ready and it’s NOT because he is really hurt!
That is what is getting lost in all of this…

Don’t run for two months then try and run a mile….You will see why Santana wasn’t able to pitch….

Maybe if something like that was in place we don’t wait until just before the season for Beltran to get operated on they realize (because of the oversight) that Beltran really needs the operation in December and he doesn’t miss half a season in 2010….

What would that cost them 20-30K per player?

compared to the cost of not having a guy who makes 18-25 Million?

And I’m not even taking the FO to a major task on this….

As I think I said elsewhere here Sandy has EVERY RIGHT to be POed at Santana when he has to cut the guy a 25 Million dollar check to play baseball…

I’m not really complaining over what they did and admit is it SOP as far as how Clubs (especially NY Clubs) deal with players….

Hell I benefit from it because it is these things that drives the media/press who pays me good money to build the technology they use to broadcast these stories. LOL I basically am the MEDIA/PRESS in a way and we LIVE for these types of Stories to fill hours of Airtime!

But I’m an old Tournament Chess player too…
And I know every move you make should be for a damn good reason not just now but 5-10 moves away…

And while Sandy has the right to bitch about it I really don’t see what there was to gain by doing so.
If he’s not ready and can’t be the press notification is not going to change that.
If it DOES have any affect it will get Santana to do MORE than he should there by risking and even BIGGER issue such as overwork and re-injury because he is doing more than he should and is capable of to kill the story.
If he IS ready and this pushes him to show it then he really wasn’t out of pitching shape all that much was he? So the story is then a NON-Story…

It does nothing for what his biggest contribution to us this year and next year might be as a Trade chip to get another promising kid.

SO while Sandy has every right to be pissed and it’s not abnormal to bitch about your players in the press I’m not knocking him for this…
Just asking if it was productive to do so and not DEstructivewhen you consider what the goals and hopes were in relation to this particular player….

Was Santana wrong for slacking off? YES!
Was Sandy right to be Pissed? DOUBLE YES!
Was Sandy wrong for saying it to the press? DEPENDS….

It depends on what he hoped to gain by it and what he might risk losing by it.
I see no benefit here but lots of potential downside in the cases of rushing a player who isn’t physically ready, risking him overdoing what he isn’t ready for and re-injuring and hurting the value of a player whose best contribution this year may be his salary coming off the books and the return of a player we might get because somone else wants him and will trade for him…

Whatever he thinks he could gain by this was already possible without this…

So all I see is a downside to this, no upside and thats the point I’m trying to get accross here in saying WHY did they do this in the press…To what GAIN that made the potential risks worth taking.

As for your fairness in this piece I never had a question about a single thing you said…Nor what Sandy said…
I just don’t see anything he can gain from it and if there is no gain but risk involved better to not make the move….
Or make it Quietly and PERSONALLY so Santana knows he is in the doghouse but none of his potential trade partners do…

can Johan run 100 laps ? yes

can Johan do 100 pushups? yes

can Johan go and pitch 3 innings…probably not…

and after going through surgery….why is this even an issue?

Unless you are worried about a bad start and the torrent of bad publicity that is going to generate.