COMMENTARY
By Bert Blyleven
MSNBC contributor
updated 1:19 p.m. PT, Wed., Feb. 6, 2008


MLB 9-11-06: Oakland Athletics at Minnesota Twins
Bert Blyleven

Johan Santana will make the Mets a lot better and not just by the brilliance he displays on the mound. He is not only the best pitcher in the game, but he's also one of baseball's classiest individuals. He'll lead when he's on the hill and also when he's in the clubhouse. The example he sets both as a player and as a person will have a tremendously positive impact on his teammates and on the franchise.

His trade from Minnesota to New York brought Santana a new deal that makes him the highest paid pitcher in baseball history, but it's the Mets who have truly struck gold.

Ready for the challenge
The lefthanded ace has an excitement for life. He seems to always be upbeat and that won't change even under the glare and scrutiny of playing in New York. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner has left one of baseball's smallest markets for its largest. That is a scary scenario for more than a few players, but Santana will embrace it -- just as he does with so many other things in his life.

The media in Minnesota can fit in a bathtub. The media in New York can fill a huge pool. But with Santana's terrific personality and his frankness, he will dive right into that pool and he'll swim not sink. He's honest and he doesn't pull any punches. If he has a bad outing, he owns up to it without making any excuses. He doesn't shy away from the media. He'll meet the tough questions head on. That's just his style and it's a style to be admired nowadays in professional sports.

Santana is changing teams and cities, but don't expect him to change as a person. In New York he will be performing before some awfully tough and demanding fans. Other players -- some of them pitchers -- who have come to the Mets or Yankees have not been able to handle that. They have bombed out of the Big Apple. Don't expect that from Santana. He'll be striving to take a big bite out of the apple not choke on it.

Teaming with Pedro, coping with pressure
Santana is what Pedro Martinez was in his prime -- about as special a pitcher and leader as a team could hope for. He's just what the Mets need to start moving beyond their late-season collapse of last year. Sure his mega millions deal will be talked and written about a lot, but Santana expects that. He knows it goes with the territory, big money, big expectations, and a big target for the media.
To me pressure was always something you put on yourself. Knowing Santana's makeup, he's not the type of person who will put pressure on himself to go out and try to pitch a shutout every start in order to justify his contract. He won't look at his deal and feel he now needs to win 30 games. What he expects out himself this season will be just what he expected out of himself in nine years with the Twins. He's always ready for a start and never lacks all-out effort.

It will be interesting to watch Santana and Martinez as teammates this season. I figure they've already talked and count on both to be excited about what's ahead. Martinez will greet Santana with welcome arms knowing his addition could get the Mets to the World Series. And it would be no surprise to me if they mesh right from the start and their relationship turns out to be a great benefit to both of them.

A gift of making others better
Santana and Martinez. That's a really good 1-2 combination at the top of the Mets' rotation. They'll be followed by two 15-game winners from last season, Oliver Perez and John Maine. The fifth starter could be veteran Orlando Hernandez or the young Mike Pelfrey. The Mets will certainly have an array of arms to combine with their potent offense and sound defense.

Santana has a way to communicate with the other starters in the rotation -- especially the younger ones -- to help make them better. Santana is one who leads by example not only with his pitching but with the way he conducts himself and with the way he prepares himself for each start. His work ethic, his presence in the clubhouse and his pitching are all so positive that his teammates can't help but feed off of it.

National League hitters have a big headache coming their way as Santana has had much success in interleague play while pitching for the Twins, posting a 16-4 record. Against the Mets he is 3-0, including a four-hit shutout last summer that actually cost me my hair when I lost a wager with Santana. The Mets had the best hitting team in the National League and the Twins weren't giving Santana a lot of run support so I bet him if he threw a shutout against New York, he could shave my head. I guess that proved to motivate him even more. Santana loves to have fun and on this occasion he had plenty of it at my expense.

No demise on the radar
Santana went 15-13 last year and some considered that to be a potential red flag. He lost seven of his last 11 decisions, and some of his numbers where not Santana-like. His ERA climbed from 2.60 to 3.33 and he allowed a career-high 33 homers -- the most in the AL. When he met the New York media for the first time since the trade he basically called what he experienced late in the season a slump for which he really didn't have an answer.

As a Twins' broadcaster I didn't see one sign in Santana's pitching at any point last season that signaled to me he has lost any of his brilliance. Santana may not have pitched his best at points last year, but he was also hurt by a lack of run support. And early runs, which are such a big factor for starting pitchers, didn't come Santana's way very often last season.

He dropped to 15 wins after chalking up 19 victories in 2006, but most of his numbers were pretty much the same as they were in the three seasons previous to 2007 -- and in two of those years he won the AL Cy Young Award. So all the numbers were there last year for another 18-20 win season, but he just didn't get the support he needed offensively. No Santana hasn't slipped. He's still as good as he's ever been and Mets fans are going to find that out to their delight this season.
Bert Blyleven writes regularly for MSNBC.com, and is a former two-time All-Star who won 287 games during his 22 seasons in the major leagues.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23029351/page/2/