Friday, February 01, 2008

Santana's officially a Met

The New York Mets completed a deal to acquire ace pitcher Johan Santana Friday by signing the two-time Cy Young Award winner to a contract extension.

The Mets acquired Santana for prospects Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber earlier this week. But, the deal was pending on the two sides agreeing on a contract extension.

Terms of the deal were not immediately released.

The Mets had until 5 p.m. (et) on Friday to sign Santana and failed to do so. The team was granted a two-hour extension by Major League Baseball, however, in order to get the deal done and were able to hammer things out.

Santana, is coming off his worst season since becoming a full-time starter. He ended the year 15-13 with a 3.33 earned run average, but was just 5-7 with a 4.04 ERA after the break, allowing 88 hits (16 of which were home runs) over 98 innings.

However, since becoming a full-time starter four years ago, Santana has been incredible, winning 70 games for Minnesota in that time, while pitching to a splendid 2.89 ERA with 983 strikeouts.
In 2006, Santana won the second of his Cy Young Awards and became the first American League pitcher in seven seasons to win pitching's Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (19), ERA (2.77) and strikeouts (245).

Santana also won the award in 2004, going 20-6 and leading the league with a 2.61 ERA and a career-best 265 strikeouts.

By going to the Mets, Santana would join a rotation that includes three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez, giving New York a potentially potent 1-2 combination.

The 25-year-old Humber did not record a decision with a 7.71 ERA in three games with the Mets last season. The right-hander was a first-round pick of the Mets in 2004.

Gomez, a 22-year-old outfielder, hit .232 with a pair of homers and 12 RBI last season, his first in the majors.

Mulvey and Guerra are also pitchers. Mulvey, a 22-year-old righty, pitched for Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A New Orleans last season, going a combined 12-10 with a 3.20 ERA over 27 starts. Guerra, an 18-year-old righty, went 2-6 with a 4.01 ERA in 21 games (20 starts) for Single-A St. Lucie last year

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