Should the Mets Sacrifice their Farm System for Johan Santana?

When I caught the enthusiasm and fervor of Tug McGraw's great battle cry "You Gotta Believe," I have watched the Mets through 30-plus years of the good, the bad, the ugly and the mediocre.

Despite last year's incredible debacle of a season that was one of the worst baseball nightmares for any fan to endure, I came to realize after weeks of feeling miserable that this memory soon shall pass.

Many friends and observers of the team are sold on the premise that Johan Santana would be the answer to take us to the World Series.

While I really am enamored at the prospect of acquiring an ace, (not to mention a left-handed one that everyone believes is the best in the game) I admit to having some trepidation.

Santana may be a confidence boost for a ballclub that may need that injection of enthusiasm and positive thinking after the disaster of 2007, but trading five maybe six prospects away scares the heck out of me! Excuse me for comparing scenarios, but those of you who have followed this team for years may recall a similar deal back in 1990.

I'm talking about the deal in which we traded five pitchers for Frank Viola (ironically also of the Twins.) Two of those five pitchers pitched for over 10 years (Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani.)

Aguilera had over 300 saves and pitched in the 1991 World Series, helping them to their second World Series championship in five seasons.

After we emptied out our farm system for Viola who had one good season with us (20-11) the Mets completely disintegrated for YEARS! After that, Viola ended up in Boston two years later and then out of baseball.

Sure, I believe the Mets are a better team than back in 1990, but if you trade away five or six of the prospects, this farm system will most likely be in dire straits for years.

While "the magic has been back" to some degree, I am wondering if the "tragic will be back" if the Mets make this deal.

While I think we'd love to have a new ace to go with Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and maybe Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, I think we should be careful what we wish for. We might be better off waiting until mid-season to acquire someone of Santana's caliber so we don't have to mortgage our future for a quick fix NOW!

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