Santana the Savior

All over the media universe on Monday morning, in newspapers and on radio shows, in blogs and on message boards, some variation of the same theme will be shared with baseball fans of all stripes.

This is what the Mets got Johan Santana for.

I'm writing the same thing tonight, but with a twist. The Mets got Santana to be a stopper, to turn the tide against the most frightening storm of the 2008 season - two straight home losses to the Phillies and a third game on national television. A third loss would've meant squandering the three-game cushion the Mets had built on Philadelphia and no doubt would've caused Mets fans to come together on the verge of the collective nervous breakdown.

Not for seven innings and 110 pitches and leave it to the bullpen with a three-run lead. Santana started the eighth inning, just like an ace is supposed to do. But not for 7 1/3 innings and a man on second with one out, so Pedro Feliciano can match up with Ryan Howard and Brian Stokes can take on Pat Burrell.

The New York Mets signed Johan Santana to get those outs on his own, and then to hand the ball over to whoever's closing the door for the team these days.

Feliciano did his job and Stokes did his, so it's hard to argue with the results. And Santana certainly turned in an admirable performance, even if it wasn't quite as long as it needed to be. The end result is that the Mets have a two-game lead in the National League East, the fan base is letting out a sigh of relief and the 2008 postseason remains a distinct possibility.

Earlier in the day, Pedro Martinez silenced any remaining voices who thought it prudent to offer him a contract for the 2009 season. It still pains me to say it (even though I wrote my "Pedro is done" column a few months ago), but Martinez simply isn't good enough to compete for a starting job on a team with championship aspirations. His upside is an average #5 starter who might give his team six good innings on occasion. When he's not on ... well, you saw the results against the Phillies.

The sad performance - 4 innings, 6 runs, 8 baserunners - will surely convince even the most ardent believers that the old Pedro is gone and he's never coming back. I mean, these are the moments that you are supposed to pay experienced veterans for, right? If you can't retire the #8 hitter with 2 outs in the second, a base open and the pitcher on deck, and if you can't keep Greg Dobbs in the park in the fourth, what are you bringing to the table that, say, Glendon Rusch can't?

Blame Pedro For This One

Another terrible loss for the Mets last night, and of course the bullpen will be front and center for criticism in this one. Pedro Feliciano in particular has been downright awful this season, after several solid years as an important bullpen contributor for the Mets. Jerry Manuel is simply going to have to stop using Feliciano in important situations for the rest of the season. Of course, Manuel also has to temper his matchup-happy ways; I know Omar Minaya inexplicably decided to pack the bullpen with specialists this year, but there are still a few relievers in the bullpen who can reasonably be asked to get lefties and righties out.

Let's not forget, however, that the bullpen gave up three runs in seven-plus innings of work last night. That's not the stuff of world-beaters, but it's not bad either. Aaron Heilman was heroic in extra innings, and Brian Stokes has been shockingly competent when you consider his professional body of work. The Mets had a 7-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but Pedro Martinez was the pitcher most responsible for making it a competitive game again.

Pedro's August resurgence came to an abrupt end last night in a four-run fifth inning that got the Phillies back within shouting distance. Martinez is the nominal #4 starter in this rotation only because of John Maine's injury, and as I wrote for Flushing University this week his starts need to be minimized down the stretch. Any thoughts of re-signing Pedro for next season, even at a "discount" price, should be ignored unless there are four competent starters in front of him in the rotation.