MLB Rumors: Johan Santana Should Be Ready for Mets' Opening Day

According to the New York Post, manager Terry Collins says that New York Mets' All-Star Johan Santana will be ready for the team's Opening Day game against the Atlanta Braves.

Santana is hoping to return after missing all of last season while recovering from a 2010 surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder. The two-time AL Cy Young winner didn't sound all that confident in his return though:

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“Going through everything I went last year, one day you feel good, one day you don’t feel so good,” Santana said. “It’s like a rollercoaster. Right now, so far, I’m feeling really good and hopefully toward the end, mid-spring training, we’ll have a better idea where we’re at and see if we’ll be ready for Opening Day.”

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Santana is a lifetime 133-69 with a 3.10 ERA. He led the league in strikeouts for three consecutive seasons from 2004-2006 and is known as one of the premier stoppers in the majors. With a pretty weak back end of the rotation, the Mets really need the Venezuelan-born pitcher to return to his elite status.

He has a 2.85 earned run average over his three-year career with the Mets and could substantially improve the team's rotation should he return for Opening Day. He'll turn 33 on March 13th, which means this could be one of his last shots to prove he still has it.

The team is in dire need of an actual No. 1 starter as Mike Pelfrey can't seem to figure out what he's doing on a baseball diamond. Dillon Gee and Jon Niese have shown promise and you have to love R.A. Dickey, but the rotation is exponentially better with Santana taking the mound every fifth day.

The Mets were mediocre to bad in all pitching categories last season so they're hurting for some help. The front office had to cut the payroll down substantially which left no room for any serious acquisitions. The additions to the bullpen won't do much at all for them nor will essentially trading 30-year-old Angel Pagan for 34-year-old Angel Pagan (Andres Torres).

Santana's return would mark the closest thing to an important free-agent signing that the Mets have made in this offseason. The two most important acquisitions that management brought in were Loews and Benjamin Moore: Loews to move the outfield walls in, and Benjamin Moore to do the painting.

It's been a brutal stretch for Mets fans since the Wilpons met some very serious financial issues, so it's about time they got some good news regarding the return of their best pitcher.