Johan Santana: Another Season, Another Surgery—Mets Need a Durable Ace

The New York Mets have announced that Johan Santana will need surgery to repair a torn capsule in his shoulder and that his season is done. Such has been his life with the Mets.

Santana arrived in the winter of 2008 from the Minnesota Twins and was lauded as the ace that would bring the Mets to respectability after the epic collapse of the 2007 season.

At the end of the 2008 season, Santana needed to undergo knee surgery. Last year he had bone chips removed from his elbow, and now he needs shoulder surgery.

While he has pitched well, he has not lived up to the ace label except for about five to 10 games per season. He has been victimized by the Mets offense, which struggles to score runs for him, but this is team-wide; no Mets pitcher has received ample run support on many of their outings.

Late-game bullpen meltdowns have also contributed to a less than stellar record, but again, that has been the case for just about every Mets pitcher.

The Mets have now had four extremely disappointing seasons, and things will likely take a drastic turn this fall and winter, where no manager, coach, or player will feel completely safe. That is part of the business side of baseball.

It's simple—WIN. If that is not the bottom line, changes will be made until the combination is found that will bring at least postseason play to Queens.

Injuries are no doubt part of the game, but to have three consecutive seasons end with news of impending surgery is a red flag, and the Mets need to address that this winter.