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Johan Santana announced today that he may not pitch at all during the 2011 baseball season.

Santana was once one of the most sought-after pitchers in the entire Major Leagues and signed with the New York Mets as one of the most highly regarded players in all of baseball.

Drawing huge contract offers and loads of media praise, Santana looked destined to become one of the best left-handed pitchers of all time.

Since leaving for New York a few short years ago, Santana’s career has taken a significant downturn, and now, the former All-Star barely has a career to hang his hat on.

This is a look at Johan Santana and his career since leaving the Minnesota Twins.

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It is a rare injury among pitchers, and Johan Santana was one of the unlucky ones to be diagnosed with it. He suffered a torn capsule in his left shoulder and has been recovering from his surgery that took place on September 14th of last year.

So what does this mean for the southpaw next season?

Well, he certainly won’t be on the mound at all for spring training—that’s for sure. General manager Sandy Alderson said that he is expected to make a late June to early July return.

That’s positive news for the Mets rotation, as they would be regaining one of their best starting pitchers.

But will Santana ever be able to fully recover from this devastating injury?

Chien-Ming Wang and Mark Prior both suffered the same injury as Johan and both went through the same surgery. Their skills never quite recovered to the levels they were at prior to the injury.

The early-June-to-late-July timetable is one that has been put together under the assumption that Santana makes a full recovery. There’s a chance that Johan might not play next season at all.

What does this mean for the Mets? A big hole in their rotation.

Losing Santana for an entire season will be a huge loss. However, even if he returns, there is a high chance that Santana won’t be the same pitcher again. 

Santana’s biggest concern through all of this isn’t the fact that he may not play all that much in the coming season; he told new manager Terry Collins that he doesn’t want to be a distraction to the team. Collins assured him that he won’t be. He wants Santana to be a leader for the team in his downtime and to help coach with the bullpen. 

May 1st is said to be the earliest that Santana will be seeing action with practices. It will start with just a simple throw and catch on the sidelines and will progress to mound time at practice. 

The Mets hope to have him back by the All-Star break.

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As news continues to come out about the Wilpons’ connection to Bernie Madoff, it only seems to get worse. In an outstanding piece written for the New York Times by Serge F. Kovaleski and David Waldstein, the Wilpons’ link to Madoff is examined.

A former Mets employee was quoted saying, “Bernie was part of the business plan for the team.” It turns out that Madoff was a huge part of the Mets business plan. The Mets would place any deferred money that they owed to players in Mr. Madoff’s investment firm (yes, that means that the team will need to find another way to fund paying off Bobby Bonilla’s seemingly endless deferred payments).

Regarding Bonilla, it has been reported that his money was in an account. It is now obvious why ownership was so willing to except the Bonilla buyout. They expected to earn 18 percent on the money they invested with Madoff so they would be able to pay off Bonilla as well as make some money for themselves. This would have required a significantly smaller investment than what it would have cost to buy out Bonilla up front.

A former executive remembered Madoff’s name coming up when the team was negotiating contracts. Could Madoff have had a say in what deals were made or if payments would be deferred? There are a lot more questions that will be brought up as the media learns more and more about the Wilpons’ relationship with Madoff.

The Wilpons’ reach in the Ponzi scheme is also larger than we were initially led to believe. Analysis of Madoff’s 15,000 clients was done by Jamie Peppard, a former financial auditor. She concluded that more than 500 individual accounts could be tied to both the Wilpons and Saul Katz. Fred Wilpon also had at least 17 accounts under his name alone. This makes sense as it was noted that Wilpon recommended Madoff to many of his close friends.

Madoff’s former secretary, Elanor Squillari, noted that the Wilpons, both Fred and his son Jeff, would visit Bernie and his son Mark at the office. She also noticed that Madoff acted differently around Fred Wilpon than he did with the rest of his close friends. As close as Fred and Bernie were, Bernie always treated Fred like a business partner at the office and not like a close friend.

Fred Wilpon also had strong admiration for Madoff. When asked by an employee how Bernie was able to bring back such large returns, Fred commented that Madoff was very creative and smarter than everyone else. It is amazing that such a large organization with so much oversight simply let something like this slip by. One would think that the Mets ownership would have tried to do some research on Madoff and other investors before making multi-million investments. However, it appears that the Wilpons’ friendship with the Madoffs got in the way of their better judgment.

The Mets debt totals have actually increased as a result of the Ponzi scheme. The Wilpons had secured loans using the money in their funds with Madoff as collateral. It appears that the team has nearly $400 million in debt now because the loans had to be refinanced with new collateral. This does a lot to explain why the Wilpons are looking to sell a stake in the team.

It may eventually come up that Wilpon did have some knowledge of Madoff’s scheme or it may be true that Wilpon sincerely believed that Madoff was making legitimate investments. Either way, as an organization, the Mets have been greatly impacted by this. It has become more and more evident this offseason, when the Mets did not spend money on free agents.

One must also think about the impact that Madoff has clearly had on the Mets’ past. Do the Mets trade for and sign Johan Santana without their Madoff money? Does Mike Piazza get his huge deal in 1999 without the Madoff money? Do the Mets bring in Carlos Beltran or Pedro Martinez if they did not have their money invested in accounts with Madoffs?

As despicable as it sounds to make this claim, Madoff may have been part of what fueled the Mets’ success during the 2000s. Without him the Wilpons may not have been able to afford the players that they brought in. If this is truly the case, how will we think of these teams when we look back?  And more importantly, what does it mean for the team moving forward to the future.

To keep up on Mets news check out Mr. Mets Daily and Mets Gazette.

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The Metropolitans were seventh in team ERA (3.73) in 2010. Impressive right? You bet. But in fantasy terms, the Mets starting pitchers are merely irrelevant.

As for Johan Santana, who will likely miss the first half of the season recovering from shoulder surgery, it will be tough to determine what ADP (average draft position) is suitable.

My advice, though, don’t shoot for Johan. Let someone else take him in the draft. Unless it’s a very late round and you’re already secure with your starting pitchers, then it’s okay to take a risk and hopefully use him in the second half.

As for his teammates, there isn’t too much going for them. Just know your league’s scoring, and then decide if you could use any of the Mets starters in 2011.

Mike Pelfrey won 15 games last year, had an ERA below 4.00, and pitched 200+ innings. In 2008, he won 13 games, had an ERA below 4.00, and pitched 200+ innings. It looks to me this is the type of stuff you’ll see from Pelfrey this year. In my opinion, 2009 was a fluke year (5.00+ ERA in about 185 innings).

We can all say Mike Pelfrey is not a strikeout pitcher. And his 2009 season, his fluke year in my eyes, was his only season with a ground ball to fly ball ratio above 1.0 (it was 1.06 to be exact).

Since 2006, Pelfrey’s ground ball to fly ball ratio has been 0.99 or lower, and when you consider all the outs involved for over 200 innings of work, that can be the difference between a 5.03 ERA (2009) and 3.66 ERA (2010).

Jonathon Niese has pitched himself into the 2011…

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Throughout the offseason, some of the moves GM Sandy Alderson made were in attempt to bolster the Mets starting staff.  He’s acquired pitchers Chris Capuano, and more recently, Chris Young.  Here’s a look at what the Mets starting rotation might look like in the 2011 season.

1. Johan Santana (LHP)

Once Santana arrives back from his injury, he’ll most likely take over the No. 1 spot.  The left-hander shouldn’t rush back from injury, as the Mets will need him to be effective if they plan to make a run at the playoffs. 

Prediction: 12-7, 2.90 ERA

2. Mike Pelfrey (RHP)

Last season, Mike Pelfrey turned in a solid year.  He was plagued by inconsistency.  He started off the season amazingly, then had a rough go for a few weeks.  He went back and forth between pitching well and pitching poorly. 

If “Big Pelf” can stay consistent this year, and pitch like he did at the beginning of last season, he’ll be a sturdy, reliable No. 2 starter, who will eat up a lot of innings for the Mets

Prediction: 17-10, 3.05 ERA

3. Jon Niese (LHP)

Jon Niese was a young, reliable lefty last season—the perfect complement to Johan Santana.  He’s showed way more bright than dull spots.  He almost pitched a perfect game last season; a double, the only chink in his armor.  Niese has shown he’s reliable, with a solid performance throughout last season.  Still young at the age of 24, he’ll get even better with age. 

Prediction: 15-11, 3.50 ERA

4. R.A Dickey (RHP)

R.A Dickey was a very pleasant surprise for the Mets last season, with a very nice 2.84 ERA.  What’s more is that he’s a knuckle-baller, and a very crafty and unconventional one at that.  He was able to stifle many offenses last season, almost  throwing a perfect game against the Phillies, only allowing a hit to the pitcher Cole Hamels.  Dickey should be able to give the Mets another solid season as long as he stays crafty and tricky. 

Prediction: 16-8, 3.09 ERA

5a. Chris Young (RHP)

The Mets acquired Chris Young from the San Diego Padres in the offseason.  Young, with a career 3.80 ERA, is a nice bottom-of-the-rotation pickup for the Mets.  If he stays healthy this year, he’ll be able to win a few games for the Mets, and pitch effectively. 

Prediction: 10-11, 4.01 ERA

5b. Chris Capuano (LHP)

Another move Alderson made was acquiring Chris Capuano from the Milwaukee Brewers.  Capuano, with a decent 4.35 career ERA, is coming off an injury plagued season.  Capuano should still be able to give some support to the bottom of the Mets rotation.  Either him or Young will probably get demoted to the ‘pen once Johan Santana comes back from his injury. 

Prediction- 8-12, 4.38 ERA

Possible/Honorable Mentions

Some other Mets candidates for the rotation may be young guns Jenrry Mejia and Dillon Gee, both RHP.  It depends on their performance, along with the rotations.  The Mets may not have the best rotation in the league, but they do have a solid one.

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With most of the top free agents now signed and teams starting to take shape as we approach spring training, I thought I would share my pre-pre-season perspective on the relative strengths, (and weaknesses), of all 30 major league teams.

I have broken the article down into three installments, and will publish one of the segments each day this weekend. Part I (yesterday) covered the three teams I view as the weakest in baseball… Part II (today) covers the teams in the middle of the pack… Part III (tomorrow, MLK Day) will preview the 10 best teams in baseball.

Without further ado, here is how I see things:

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Spring training is getting closer. Top players have switched teams and fans patiently wait for America’s favorite past time to get started. 

There’s a lot of buzz going on right now as some recent deals have occurred. Clubs are signing key players and some are losing them.

Let’s take a look in to how these deals affect certain teams. As well as the latest rumors in the Major League Baseball world.

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1. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

2. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

3. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

4. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

5. Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

6. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

7. Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins

8. David Price, Tampa Bay Rays

9. Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox

10. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

11. C.C. Sabathia, New York Yankees

12. Jered Weaver, Los Angeles Angels

13. Roy Oswalt, Philadelphia Phillies

14. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants

15. Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

16. Johan Santana, New York Mets

17. Mat Latos, San Diego Padres

18. Stephen Strasburg*, Washington Nationals

19. C.J. Wilson, Texas Rangers

20. Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

21. Dan Haren, Los Angeles Angels

22. Trevor Cahill, Oakland Athletics

23. Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies

24. Zach Greinke, Milwaukee Brewers

25. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves

26. Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco Giants

27. Tommy Hanson, Atlanta Braves

28. Ervin Santana, Los Angeles Angels

29. Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox

30. Yovani Gallardo, Milwaukee Brewers

31. Francisco Liriano, Minnesota Twins

32. Brett Myers, Houston Astros

33. James Shields, Tampa Bay Rays

34. Fausto Carmona, Cleveland Indians

35. Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays

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In a year where we saw ‘Prevention and Recovery,’ hirings and firings, and even some crazy top 10 plays, our New York Mets couldn’t put together a winning ball club and now our eyes are set on the promising future.

With a new regime in place that stands for almost everything opposite from the last boss, we take one last look at 2010 with the knowledge that our team will improve in 2011 and years to come. 

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It’s always sunny in Philadelphia recently, but the prediction in New York is stormy weather for the foreseeable future. There are a lot of holes in the Mets organization, and the fans are sick of being rained on, over and over again. This list encapsulates the top nine ten players, theoretically an entire team, that the Mets need to replace during the 2011 season.

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