By: Josh Cohen

After a 46 pitch bullpen session today, Johan told reporters that he is eyeing Opening Day.  He felt no pain and it’s his goal to pitch that first game.

As a Mets fan I don’t know if I should be excited or nervous.  We all look back and see Mo Vaughn, Robbie Alomar, and all the other big ticket superstars that have been brought in and immediately broke down.  Is it really worth the risk to have him throw game 1 of the season???  Yes, as a Mets fan I want to see Johan on the rubber when the season starts, but I’d rather see him not miss any other starts.  Let’s get him 100% healthy, make sure he is fine, get some ST work in before we get our hopes up…

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By: Josh Cohen

Last year the Mets may not have even made the playoffs, but they probably had the best fantasy core in the league.  Adding the #1 closer from last year and losing no one else things aren’t going to change in Mets fantasy world this year.  David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan all project to be top 15 picks.  Beltran should go in the top 30 and K-rod will most likely be the first closer taken.  Here is what I see happening from the premier Mets in fantasy baseball this year.  All the draft pick projected rounds are based on standard 5×5 12 team roto style league.

David Wright (3b) $40 – David looks to secure his spot as the top 3b selected in most drafts this year.  At 26 years old he is looking to still improve from previous years and will probably increase his power this year and keep around the 20 SB number.  Yes he has the eye, speed, skill, power and stroke to go after 40-40 at some point in his career.  This year he will still be the main driving force behind this top offense in all of the majors.  Expect 35/120/110 out of him this year and for him to hit .310 with 25 bases swiped.  Premier of the premier.  If it is a keeper league you can consider him for #1 overall.

Jose Reyes (SS) $42 – Joseeeeee, Jose, Jose…..Let the man leadoff and do everything you want.  He can single handedly put you in the top 1/3rd of your league in SB, and add some power behind it.  We already saw that he added some pop with that nice 2 HR day in the Spring.  Still a nice young $25 years old, lets see him fill out some more and get back over the 20 HR mark.  Expect 18/75/120 as long as Manuel doesn’t move him to the 3 spot in the order.  Let’s hope he keeps getting more and more disciplined at the plate and finally break the .300 BA mark (hit exactly .300 in 2006).  With all of that expect him to steal over 60 bases again, and if Castillo hits behind him and is nice and patient like expected we can see him go back to 70-80.  Another top 5 pick and player you can feel comfortable building a keeper league around.

Carlos Beltran (OF) $30 – Beltran should have ample opportunities to be an offensive jugernaut on this team again.  He should easily reach 20-20 but that isn’t enough to get him into the first round as we saw a few years back.  Wright, Reyes, Johan and now K-rod should be able to keep the attention off of Beltran which will help him succeed.  He will be a top 5 OFer again this year and if you get him any later than the 3rd round you are getting a steal.  In keeper leagues his value might go down because of his age but I wouldn’t worry.  He is someone that can help you win and win now, 25/100/100 is easily within reach, and he should hit around .280 and swipe 20-25 bases again.  If you want to reach on him take him early in the third, if he is around after that grab him up and thank everyone in the league.

Carlos Delgado (1b) $16 - DO NOT expect the same first half from last year and DO NOT expect the same second half from last year.  Carlos will be in the middle of the pack when it comes to 1b this year but still should be a solid pick.  He is getting older and older and his skills will continue to diminish, and if you are in a keeper league I would say to drop him a few more notches because of that.  Safely look for 25/90/80 from him, and secretly hope for 30/110/90 while hitting around .265.

Johan Santana (SP) $37 – Let’s all get those early season worried about arm trouble behind us.  Since they pulled him back from the trip back to NY and are not worried about fantasy players shouldn’t either.  If your draft is soon then wait around and see if you can steal him.  Forget all of the people and naysayers saying he did not do what the Mets brought him in for.  He did it and the bullpen blew it.  With CC out of the NL, he is now far and away the front runner for the NL Cy Young.  He also proved last year, under the scrutiny of NY’ers, that he can go longer than 7 innings and wants the ball.  Let’s hope he starts the season off the same way and with the security behind him wins 20+ games.  Let’s go conservative on the predictions though…18 wins, 1.03 WHIP, 2.75 ERA, 210 K’s.  If he is there near the end of round one and you want to go pitcher he is a great pick.  If he sticks around to the end of the second round jump on him and don’t look back.

Francisco Rodriguez (CL) $27 – The gem of gems that the Mets could’ve hoped to get this offseason.  I know I’ve said this before and I will say it a lot, the Mets had the best record in baseball if the games ended after 6 innings.  K-rod is going to come in and clean up all of those games.  No I don’t think he will get to 62 saves again, I would be happy with 45-50.  Saves are the hardest category to predict because they have a lot to do with teams playing in close games, and with JJ Putz as the setup man we are hopefully not going to give up leads the way we have been in the past few years.  The ratios and K’s are much more predictable so he will give you 2.50 ERA, 1.2 ERA, and 75+ K’s.  Yes, he is a closer on one of the best teams in the NL so he will be drafted high.  If you are the type of person that likes to take closers, anywhere in the 6th-8th round is a solid spot to get him.  I would say if you draft him, make sure you grab JJ Putz at the end of the draft if you can just in case something happens to him, and to grab some vulture wins.

John Maine (SP) $8 – According to MLB.COM John Maine is working on bringing back his curveball.  And from what I have been reading on rotoworld.com he is really working it into a lot of his game work and side sessions.  What does this mean to you???  This means he will have that knockout pitch he has been missing.  The misery of seeing him dominate 5-6 IP and then look and he is nearing or already at 100 pitches will hopefully be over.  If he can get an out pitch instead of having the ball fouled off as much he will be a steal.  Look for him to have a career year this year but only take him if you can get him at a great value.  He is the type of late pitcher that can take you from the middle of the pack to the top if his curveball is what is expected.  Look for around 3.75 ERA, 1.25-1.30 WHIP, 180 K’s and 15-20 wins with this awesome bullpen.  Look for him to fall down to the 17th round or so.  If you want him, I do not think the 14th round is a big reach but if he makes it to 17 or later consider it a steal.

Oliver Perez (SP) $6 - We missed out on the CC auction, decided Lowe wasn’t worth it, and took back Ollie.  If you are a Mets fan you know how up and down he can be.  If he can keep his head in the game he is a stud but if he loses focus he is a dud.  This makes him another pitcher that can help lead you to victory in your league.  I would take him in the 17th or 18th round and he is a steal past the 2oth round.  In a roto style league you need consistency, the last thing you want to do is look deep into numbers and try to predict his bust games.  Over the long haul look for low 4 ERA, WHIP around 1.35, 175 K’s and about 13-15 wins.

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Usatoday.com reports about the Mets landing Johan Santana:

“The deal is pending the Mets and Santana reaching agreement on a six- or seven-year contract extension and that Santana passes a physical; they have been granted a 48 to-72-hour window to do so. Santana has a no-trade clause that he will waive if agreement is reached on a contract extension.

The Mets paid a high price in prospects to land Santana, agreeing to send the Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.”

Wow. I can’t believe it. The Mets got Johan Santana. I really don’t believe it. I can’t even put it into my own words how much my expectations have gone up about the Mets this year already. Sure, we lose Gomez, Mulvey, and Humber, all top prospects in the organization, but Johan Santana is one of the best pitchers in baseball and Mulvey, Humber, and Guerra don’t beat that.

Omar finally made a good move. Finally.

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At Rotoworld.com, they write about how the Twins are in no rush to give up Johan, and are waiting for the right deal:

ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the Twins are telling teams that they’re willing to hold on to Johan Santana into spring training as they attempt to get the package of players they want.

No one really has any new info on the Santana talks, but that’s not going to stop them from posting stories. Stark mentions the Mariners as still being in contact with the Twins, but he doesn’t think they’re a serious suitor because of Santana’s desire to play on the East Coast. Similar to what others have reported, he believes the Mets offered Carlos Gomez, two of their top young pitchers and a fourth prospect for Santana. However, the Twins are holding out for getting both Gomez and Fernando Martinez in the same package.

I personally doubt that the Omar will give up the two players he has protected so much all these years, but then again, I said the same with Milledge, and look what happened to him, and the mediocre players we got. I personally would not be too happy if we gave up both of our outfielding prospects for Johan, but if it happens, I will live with it, because Johan is the best pitcher in baseball.

I hope that Omar does his best to give up 1 outfielder, even if it means giving up all the pitchers, cause I see a much brighter future with Gomez and Martinez than I do with Humber, Pelfrey, and Mulvey.

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First of all, I’d like to apologize for my lack of posting, I have been really busy lately.

John Young of Mets Bullpen’s affiliate Shea Nation writes about how the Mets are still an option for Johan:

I didn’t want to post any new Johan Santana rumors until after the new year, but The Star Tribune wouldn’t make that possible. This is starting to get to the Level of the Barry Zito nuisance that plagued us last off-season. At any rate they point out that the Mets still remain a viable option for the Twins and that they like the Mets prospects more than we had originally thought:

The Twins checked in with the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets just before everyone split for the holidays but nothing major appears to be heating up. Yes, you just read the word Mets. Indications are that the Mets remain a viable destination for ace Johan Santana, and that the Twins like enough of their players that a deal could be worked out without shortstop Jose Reyes being part of the package.

Outfield prospects Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez have been mentioned in other reports as possible targets. Pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber are considered good prospects but it’s unclear how much the Twins like them. And, it’s unknown if there are any established players the Mets are willing to part with (Reyes and David Wright seem untouchable).

 This is pure speculation, but you have to wonder if the Twins would prefer to deal Santana to a National League team. Santana, a career .258 hitter, would get the chance to swing the bat. And, except for interleague play, the Twins wouldn’t have to face him during the regular season.

The way I see it, the way everything is going now, the Twins are going to wait until this year’s trade deadline until they do anything about trading away Johan- or that is at least the way it has appeared lately. I do feel that the fact that he wants a National League team to pitch for gives us a great chance at landing him. I can’t wait to see what happens.

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According to a source at Newsday.com, the Yankees chances have gone down a lot of getting Johan Santana.

Johan Santana is not expected to be the Yankees’ big Christmas present, a source with knowledge of the situation said Friday.

“I don’t see it happening with us,” the source said. “We pulled out in Nashville, and we haven’t put an offer back on the table.”

Well, this is great for the Mets- it just marks that the Mets and Red Sox are getting a much better chance in getting Johan, which is great. Maybe the reason for the ticket prices going up 20% is because Wilpon thinks that the Mets chances of getting Johan Santana is increasing- which I think Mets fans would now agree with the raise.

I still think that we should give away 4 or 5 prospects for Johan, cause I really think that he is worth that.

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According to this NY Post article,

Brian Cashman and Steinbrenner do not want to give up 2 of the 3 top pitching prospects n their organization, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes. Steinbrenner was quoted saying that it will not happen.

This is great news for the Mets, as it seems very unlikely the Twins will give Santana up, if they don’t get at least 2 of the Yankees’ pitching prospects. If the Mets will give up Pelfrey, Humber, and maybe Mulvey or Oliver Perez, although they are not as good as the Yankee prospects it still gives them higher standing in the battle to get Johan.

I really think that the Mets can do something with this, I think after these statements were made, Omar should call up the Twins and start negotiating right now and try to make something of what may be a monumental moment for the Mets right now.

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George Steinbrenner was quoted earlier saying

“It’s up to Minnesota what they want to do and I assume they’re still thinking about trading him. As far as what I’m going to do, I don’t know…The door’s not closed. I’m still thinking about it.”

As far as I can tell, I think the Mets stopped trying so hard to work out a deal for him, and maybe were negotiating with the A’s the past few days, that is, until yesterday’s trade.

Mike Francesa said yesterday on WFAN:

“I ran in to a few people…I did learn one bit of information…There has not been a conversation yet between the Mets and Twins, and they are on going, where the Twins have made an offer to the Mets or a counter offer that has not included Jose Reyes. So, reports are not true. Reyes has been a deal breaker, from Minnesota’s stand point. The Mets are hoping, by January, that that will not be the case. The Mets are hopeful, they think they will be serious players for Santana. Reyes has been a hang up. They have not come off of Reyes yet…And that’s from the horse’s mouth. All I know is this, the Twins have never ever asked for anything less than Reyes.”

I know that the Mets will not trade Reyes, so with that information, it makes me feel a lot better on the situation we have in trying to get Santana. I think that the Twins really want to get rid of him, and move into a rebuilding process, so sooner or later they are going to accept one of these deals that may be a tiny bit below the expectations that they brought into the Winter Meetings.

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Jon Heyman, of SI.com, writes:

The Mets offered different packages of prospects that included either outfielder Carlos Gomez or outfield prospect Fernando Martinez but not both, declining to include the one extra prospect the Twins requested to clinch the deal according to people familiar with those talks.

…so… as I was half-thinking in my head… the Twins were asking too much for Johan. As Much as I would love to have him, I have made up my mind that giving up both of our top outfielding prospects probably isn’t the answer, as we got rid of Lastings already, and Gomez and Milledge show a great potential to be stars…

... maybe Omar will be able to work out some more magic, however, I highly doubt that the Twins will go below that, as I was talking with someone who has ties to the Twins organization who told me the Twins are in no rush to give up Johan…

Site Note: We’re getting a custom skin!

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Matthew Cerrone of metsblog.com wrote last night about Johan Santana and the possibility of him coming to the Mets:

from what i can gather, Johan Santana prefers to be on the Mets, where he can a) be in New York City, and b) get out of the hitter-dominant American League…

…so, over the last few days, if not longer, the Twins have been speaking on and off with the Mets, who are willing to flood them with young talent, but who refuse to provide a major-league ready, immediate-impact player, like Jose Reyes…

So, basically what he is saying is, the Mets will give up Heilman, Pelfrey, Gomez, those players, but will not budge on an already proven player and star on the team like Jose Reyes or David Wright… which is the right move.

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