Things are getting weird between the Mets and Johan Santana.
Santana has yet to make his spring debut because he is still in the process of building strength in his shoulder. The Mets were caught off guard that the veteran southpaw wasn’t in pitching shape upon reporting to camp, which is all the more curious considering that he wanted to pitch for his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson went public with his disappointment last weekend, which resulted in Santana reportedly irking the team by throwing unscheduled from a mound just one day later.
While Santana has scaled back his throwing program in recent days, making a trip to the disabled list inevitable, it’s clear that he is not over how the situation was handled.
In Lakeland w/Mets, was told Santana remains bitter toward ballclub re: his readiness to pitch. Barely communicating with club officials.
— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) March 11, 2013
Santana's anger is palpable in PSL. This will linger for a while.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) March 11, 2013
Santana is a competitor, so it’s not surprising to learn that he’s still peeved by the perception that he showed up to spring training out of shape. The Mets have every reason to be frustrated if he wasn’t where they thought he’d be when spring training began, but perhaps Alderson should have recognized the possibility that Santana would take his comments personally and divert from the plan. Who knows what was said behind closed doors, but this appears to be a failure of communication on both sides. Of course, if Santana comes back at some point in April and pitches well, this drama will all be forgotten.
Santana, 33, is owed $25 million this season while his $25 million club option for next season includes a $5.5 million buyout.
