Johan’s Annual Salary
The annual numbers on Johan Santana‘s contract are as follows:
2008: $19 million
2009: $20 million
2010: $21 million
2011: $22.5 million
2012: $24 million
2013: $25.5 million
2014 (option): $25 million, with a $5.5 million buyout
Santana was originally slated to earn $13 million in 2008 but the Mets gave him a $6 million signing bonus for his extension. The 2014 option vests based on innings pitched and Cy Young voting. A full no trade clause was included as well.
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Feliciano and Sosa Signed
The Mets avoided going to arbitration with two of the four remaining arbitration eligible players on the roster. Pedro Feliciano signed for one year at $1.025 million and Jorge Sosa signed for one year at $2 million.
The two remaining Mets that are arbitration eligible are Ryan Church and Oliver Perez.
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Santana Signed!
Johan Santana has been signed, the deal has been sealed and he will officially be delivered at a press conference to be held this Wednesday. The Mets announced in a conference call this afternoon that Santana has signed a deal that guarantees him $137.5 million through the 2013 season with an option for the 1014 season. The Mets actually had to ask for an extension beyond Fridays 5 PM deadline because they were close but were still haggling over some details about the option year which includes a $5 million buyout. Omar Minaya admitted that it was hard to give up the four prospects needed to land Santana (Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey) but that this team needs to win now. Minaya clearly knows what has to happen this season for him to keep his job: Johan Santana must lead this team to the promised land.
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Santana Claus Is Coming To Town
I was in a business meeting yesterday when I heard the news. The Mets acquired Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for outfielder Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey. The deal is pending the Mets and Santana agreeing to a contract extension (expected to be about 6 years at $130 million) as well as all players passing physicals. I had to try to keep my composure until the meeting ended and I was able to leave the room and find a place were I could jump for joy.
This is a trade that was talked about through all of the off season. The Mets were underdogs the whole way through but stood firm on their refusal to not include Jose Reyes in a deal. The Red Sox and Yankees both had prospects with higher upside than the Mets and at different points had included some of them in various packages. I was always convinced that the Yankees were only interested in making a deal if it would keep Santana away from the Red Sox. In the end, when the Red Sox refused to include both Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester in the package, the Twins disregarded the Red Sox as potential trade partner. That being the case the Yankees, who all along had refused to include Phil Hughes in a deal, dropped away leaving the Mets as the only player left.
The most amazing thing to me is that the Mets managed to keep their highest position playing prospect, Fernando Martinez, as well as their highest pitching prospect, Mike Pelfrey.
The trade is a no brainer. But as with any prospect laden package the true winner in this deal will not be known for several years when the prospects true performance as well as the Mets World Series prospects as a result of the deal will be known. But right now this deal puts the Mets at the top of the heap on paper.
Lets go Mets!
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Lo Duca To Have Surgery
Many Mets fans, myself among them, shook their heads when the Mets opted to not re-sign catcher Paul Lo Duca. Then Lo Duca’s named turned up prominently in the Mitchell report and it appeared obvious that the Mets knew this would happen and decided to let him go rather than have to answer more questions about the situation. No comes another reason to be thankful the Mets didn’t re-sign him.
The Washington national, Lo Duca’s new team, announced that he will be having surgery to repair a torn meniscus and will be out for 3 to 6 weeks. The tear occurred during Lo Duca’s regular workouts but it makes you wonder about the widely held belief that prolonged use of steroids makes your body more brittle and prone to injury. Could this be steroids taking it’s toll on Lo Duca’s body? I don’t know. Just a thought.
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Church In Santana Package?
The rumor out of Boston, courtesy of this article in the Boston Herald, has Ryan Church being included in the package the Mets are offering the Twins for Johan Santana. This is an interesting development and helps explain the Lastings Milledge trade.
It was widely known that Milledge’s trade value had gone down and that Minnesota wants to get some Major League ready talent in a possible Santana trade. So acquiring a Major League outfielder that would be more attractive to the Twins, who are looking to replace the departed Torii Hunter, makes perfect sense. Of course trading Church would open a hole in right field but Omar Minaya will surely find someone passable to man the position at the start of the season and bolster it by the trade deadline to I’m not so worried about that.
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Ricardo Rincon Signed to Minor League Deal
The Mets signed Ricardo Rincon to a minor league contract today. Rincon has had a rough time of it the last couple of years with injuries. It’s a no lose situation to sign a guy like this. Either he is ready to play again and proves he can or he doesn’t. If it’s the former then you’ve signed a productive guy very cheap. If it’s the latter then you cut him during spring training and haven’t lost anything.
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Chavez Signed
The Mets have agreed to a new contract with Endy Chavez. The deal is for 2 years at $3.85 million. The four remaining Mets that are arbitration eligible are Ryan Church, Pedro Feliciano, Oliver Perez and Jorge Sosa
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Arbitration Update
On Friday the Mets came to terms with Aaron Heilman on a one-year contract worth $1.2 million avoiding arbitration. That makes two arbitration eligible player signed (Duaner Sanchez is the other), five more to go. The team has exchanged numbers with the other five players (Endy Chavez, Ryan Church, Pedro Feliciano, Oliver Perez, Jorge Sosa).
Omar Minaya has a great record of coming to terms with players before their arbitration hearings. This year has it’s challenges (such as Perez asking for $6.5 million and Sosa asking for $1.75 million) so we’ll have to wait and see what Minaya will do here.
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Valentin Officially a Former Ex-Met
The Jose Valentin rumor I posted about yesterday is no longer rumor. The second baseman has signed a minor league contract and gotten an invitation to spring training.
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