The Zo Zone

Great, so now we can stop talking about it and get ready for the real season on the field. Offseason moves create a lot of buzz, but the actual impact on the season is often not equal to that buzz (SEE: Barry Zito last year; Jim Thome 2003). Santana makes the Mets rotation stronger. It does not make the Mets unbeatable or runaway favorites. Should be a good race. Lets get it on.

For once I agree with Bill Conlin. He still can't write, but I agree when he says Santana will be a great starter in front of a lineup with some glaring weak spots.

Beltran is good. Reyes is very good. Personally, I think Wright is overrated. And that's the lineup, really. Ours is SO much better.

The Phils' Feliz pickup will work fine so long as they trade Helms and give up more for a legit No. 3 or 4 starter. Then, we're off.

The Phils have an edge over the Mets with their lineup and, with Feliz at 3B, their defense is probably better than the Mets. The Phils definitely have the edge in attitude.

The season may come down to Myers and Lidge. If Myers puts up numbers worthy of a No. 2 starter and Lidge proves he is again a bona fide closer, the Phils will more than hold their own against the Mets. It's gonna be a good race this year.

I have NO worries!

BRING IT ON, SANTANA!

Eman: David Wright over rated? Two time starting All Star and not even 25 yet? What planet are you from?
Watch for monster years ahead as he enters his prime.

Hey Filly Phans...the name of the game is pitching..and the Mets have the better staff. Spin it any way you want, but the Mets pulled off a division winning trade. And with their own TV Network bringing in gobs of money, like the Yankees have done for years, they can buy whatever they need. The Phils and Braves just can't compete with the Mets when it comes to money. And that will be the difference as the years pass.
Don't be too depressed, there's always the Wild Card!

AJ,

Another year of Mets are best?

That money for Santana is nuts. If that is what it takes let the Mets have him. Six years? That's just crazy. He is a great pitcher but no way on that deal. Conlin is right the Mets are nothing to be scared of.

I wonder if the Mets' blogs are filled with ridiculous comments about how they would have been better off signing Kyle Lohse for $8.75 million a year and saving all that money at 4.25% in the bank. I have a funny feeling that's how this blog would look had we signed Santana.

Winning the N.L. East just got that more difficult.

AJ, how have the Yanks done after spedning gobs of money on Giambi, Mussina, Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Javy Vazquez, Carl Pavano, Jose Contreras, Matsui, A Rod, Abreu, Damon, etc? Lotta first round exits for payrolls that have added up to over a BILLION dollars. Didn't the Cleveland Indians (and a few gnats) and their $60 mil payroll beat them last year?

And wasn't Tom Glavine the Mets savior? No? How 'bout Pedro? Beltran? Delgado? Wagner? Lo Duca? Alou? Green? All those guys for a 2nd place finish?

AJ,

How's all that spending worked out for the Yankees lately? Hopefully Santana will pan out, and not - like someone else mentioned - end up another Barry Zito, Jim Thome, Kevin Brown and Mike Hampton. Think swinging a bat will help that elbow? Running the bases for the first time? I guess we'll all find out.

Playing in Minnesota is exactly like playing in the spotlight in Minnesota. And 7 years is a loooooong time.

You can keep your dysfunction. You watched the Mets last year, right? Real chemistry out there. Lots of faith in old Wille. Hopfully Reyes will run out balls. Alou and El Duque won't let turning 50 hold then back. Delgado hits above .240. Beltran stops channelling all the passion of Bobby Abreu. Pedro lasts more than 4 innings. Billy "the Rat" Wagner doesn't start asking for days off in May. The rest of the bullpen doesn't implode. Millidge doesn't release another record...

"Playing in the spotlight in NY," I meant to say.

That's right AJ, with this move the Mets can defend that division title they won last year when they were seven games up with 17 to play... whoops...

John in LA: How did all that money work out for the Yankees? How about 13 straight playoff appearances and counting. Look, as a Met fan I'm not touting the Yankees. But having the money and spending it does affect any team. Big market teams will always field superior teams for the most part. The Yankees got even richer when they started their own TV network, YES. The Mets saw that and started SNY in 2005. The money is now rolling in. It's the enormous NY market and the aforementioned TV networks that give the Mets and Yanks an edge over the other "big" market cities like Boston, LA, Chicago etc.
As far as Santana...going from a DH league with more offense to the NL,; going from a hitters park like the Metrodome to a pitcher park like Shea; going to a league were there are less big hitters and where they haven't faced him very much...you do the math. His ERA over/under should be about 2.00.

AJ, Boston has their own network as well, NESN. And I'll guess his eRA will be a full point higher than that. The same was said about Hudson switching to the Braves. Although he wasnt in the same class as Santana, he was still an Allstar, Cy Young caliber pitcher. He hasn't exaclty struggled in the NL, but he hasn't dominated as expected. Plus, he came over at a younger age.

Santana is a great addition to the Mets just like he would be a great addition to the Phillies. The Mets are better as a result of signing him. The question is, how much better?

The Phillies will certainly compete and they will have a fight on their hands all season long. Things got a lot more interesting with Santana on the Mets.

The Phillies need to add one more pitcher, just not sure who can push them over the top. Bedard, Kazimir? Stan Hochman seems to thing the pitcher the Phillies are likely to acquire is on another team's roster right now and thus no conversation.

Stay tuned. Go Phillies!

Anonymous...thanks for the correction on the BoSox having their network too. Makes sense...they are right up there with the Yankees and now Mets with the top 3 payrolls. I guess we'll see other bigger market teams do the same in the future. The revenue from these networks is quite impressive.
With all this baseball blogging I'm ready for the season to start now! And all our discussions and opinions regarding how effective Santana is will be answered. At $150 million, he better be very good for a long time!

Seeing Santana go to the Mets hurts like hell. It's nuts giving him all that money but the Mets had to. They're opening a new stadium next year and the team they had looked old and on the decline.
One thing is true and that's that the Mets, Phils and Braves' teams we see start the season in April won't be the same teams to play the whole year. There will be injuries and dissapointments. It's gonna come down to who stays healthy and who has more depth, Santana or no Santana.
I like Lohse but what would he really add to the Phils? He's a #4 or 5. We've got those kinds of guys. If both Kendrick and Eaton fail we go to Chad Durbin and I'd bring up Carrasco. Either you can pitch or you can't. Would a struggling Carrasco be worse than a rebuilt Benson? Everyone is downplaying Eaton but he's more likely to improve upon than repeat last season. He's got to be working his ass off to get better.
Finally, I'm no pie in the sky optimist but what is really true is the Phils are the up and coming team and the Mets are the old team struggling to keep up. The Mets just dealt away guys that would have helped in the future. This deal makes the Phils farm system a lot closer to the Mets system which bodes well for the future.
At this time last year I was distressed to read most magazines picked the Phils to finish 3rd in the East. After having more key injuries I can remember any team having the Phils hung in a won a division. Yeah, Santana was big but will the Phils get off to as bad a start as last year and will they have as many injuries as last year? I don't think so.

Totally off-topic, but hey Todd, is the "Ask Todd" section going to be back live again this season, perhaps when spring training starts? I saw (as did we all, I guess), that it kind of went "blooey" a while ago, and then they reconstructed it but it's only showing stuff from back at the beginning of December as the most recent. I remember it was such a mess last season that you were only updating there every couple of weeks. Have they fixed the problems yet?

Good Luck,

Marty (in LA) McPhillie

AJ,
Many a fan has thought his team made a "division winning move" after a big signing or trade, only to see their team miss the playoffs. Watch that hubris. The bottom line is this: The Mets are an aging injury prone team. The Phillies are a younger more hungry team. The Mets rotation is better if healthy -- and if Oliver Perez and Maine pitch consistently well. But those are both very big "IF's." The Phillies starting 8 is clearly better and the Phils will score a ton more runs. The bullpens are probably about even. So I can't really see how either team is a clear favorite right now. It will be a good race and either could come out on top. That is the reality.

I realize the psychological value of having a true ace, but the bottom line here is that Santana has replaced Glavine in the rotation. He can't win 15 more games than Glavine did last year. His arrival doesn't make Moises Alou or Carlos Delgado any younger, or Carlos Beltran any more clutch, or Billy Wagner any less likely to give up a home run in a crucial save situation.

It's a loooooong year. I wouldn't concede anything at this point.

"Don't be too depressed, there's always the Wild Card!"....AJ

Let me think......Haven't several *wild card* teams won the World Series?

I'm not conceding the division title, but I'll take anything that gets us to the "big game"!

Can someone explain about the teams that "own their own TV networks"? And how that generates money? Never heard of that before.

The great thing about this time of year is that "nobody knows nuttin". We all remember Lance, Danny, and that pitcher from Chi we got last year-but let us not forget Joe Cowley.
The player who is the key to this season is listed in the transaction section of the sports page. Who is it? That's the question all of us want to know.

The great thing about this time of year is that "nobody knows nuttin". We all remember Lance, Danny, and that pitcher from Chi we got last year-but let us not forget Joe Cowley.
The player who is the key to this season is listed in the transaction section of the sports page. Who is it? That's the question all of us want to know.

The key to the Mets season is Reyes. After Chris Coste nailed him trying to steal third with two outs and the Mets up at Shea in a mid Sept. game that the Phils game from behind to win, Reyes quit on the Mets in the final 15 games of the season. He would attempt to steal only one more base the rest of the season and his lack of "giddyup" the rest of the way essentially allowed the Phils to catch them and win the NL East.

I am not concerned about Santana. Sure,I expect he will have some initial success but I think as time goes on he will just be another above average lefty. The Phillies will do just fine against him.

As with any power pitcher,it is important to make him throw as many pitches as possible which is why the Phillies will need to be more disciplined at the plate.

The Mets,however,could have made a big mistake with the long term expensive deal. They put a sizable dent in their farm system and if,God forbid,Santana is injured to the extent that his effectiveness is hampered for any great length of time,a scenario which is becoming all too common with major league pitchers,then they could find themselves up the creek without a paddle.

I wonder how much the mental aspect of knowing they collapsed at the end of the season will affect the Mets?

I know! There's always the "we'll get them next year" attitude! But we all know the players know all the right things to say to the press. Wonder what they're really thinking to themselves?

At least when they play the Phils, we might be able to get them with just a *look*! LOL!

So everybody thinks the Mets are the team to beat now because they have Santana. I don't think so. Yeah, they got a great pitcher but that is all they have. Martinez and Hernandez are old and probably won't make the whole season again or give them 30 something quality starts like last year. After Reyes, Wright, and Beltran everybody else is old on the offense and past their prime. The Phillies offense is much younger and in their prime. I believe the Phillies will win the division and they will win it just barely over the Braves not the Mets. I believe the Mets are the 3rd best team in the division.

the simple point is the mets and braves got stronger in the off season, and the phillies at best stayed the same quality, but arguably, got worse. our line up clearly got worse, we are betting on a closer with a history of meltdowns and our rotation clearly got weaker. we don't have a 5th starter and are relying on kendrick and moyer as our 3rd and 4th. that is very scarry. i hope you all enjoyed the feeling of winning the division. i know i did. that feeling will have to last us another 10 years though.

p.s. those people who are saying "santana, bring it on" are silly. that's like saying tiger woods, bring it on. he is the best pitcher in the game and will dominate in the NL.

For the guy who just posted above me. You're telling me that we have a closer who has a history of meltdowns. Look at what the Muts have. They have Billy "The Rat" Wagner who we destroyed last season and has blown almost every single game we played against him last season. I know our bullpen is bad but theirs is even worse Heilman, The Rat, and not to mention a bunch of other stiffs. Also their lineup, once you get past Reyes, Wright, and Beltran are all old. The oldest player in our lineup is Jenkins who is only 34. Other than that our infield is one of the best in the majors and our star players (Utley, Howard, Rollins) are still only in their late 20s. Our outfield is decent(Burrell, Victorino, Jenkins). We also have a better bench (Dobbs, Werth, Taguchi, Coste, Bruntlett) than the Muts. Our offense is one of the best in the National League. We are a younger team than the Muts. The only problem I see us having is our rotation. Once you get past Hamels, Myers, and maybe Kendrick, the rest of our rotation is a question mark. But, we have two young prospects(Carrasco and Outman)in the minors, so if we have trouble early on with Eaton and Moyer, we can still call-up our two most highly regarded prospects to start. Just because the Muts added Santana doesn't make them favorites. Once you get past Santana, the rest of their starting rotation are either too old or are questionable. Overall both us and the Muts have a bad bullpen, and a questionable rotation. But we have a better offense and better bench than the Muts. Overall I think it's still going to be a close race, but I would give the edge to the Phils.

Hey Aj ,

Can you spell...CHOKE...the Mets can !!

OK Filly phans....but remember...the Mets have way more money than the Fillies and that always helps.
They can spend more, and get whatever we need during the season. It's great to have your own TV network bringing in all that extra loot!
Personally, I'm more worried about the Tomahawk Choppers than the Fillies.
And I just love when I see about a third of your ballpark full of Mets fans when they are in town.
It's a real hoot! You don't see Filly fans at Shea.:) Nor do you draw the crowds we do. Real great fan base you have there, Filly phans.hehe

Younger younger younger....I keep hearing that one...I thought I'd check the average age of each roster...let's see....

Filly 7th oldest team in MLB...avg. age 28.9

NYM 6th oldest team in MLB...avg. age 29

Wow, dem Fillys is young, huh?

Hey RG, can you spell CHOKE the Fillys still own the worst regular season choke EVER.

"on September 20, they (Fillys) returned home from a West Coast road trip with a 6 1/2-game lead on second-place Cincinnati with only twelve games remaining"

Nothing a li'l TEN GAME LOSING STREAK couldn't cure.

OUCH!

AJ....No Phillies fans at Shea???? Have you ever been to a game?

I don't know the seating capacity at Shea. You may have had higher *attendance* because of that. But CBP hosted more than 3 million fans last year. And MOST of those 3 mil. didn't jump on the band-wagon. We have a huge and very loyal fan base!

Actually, in reality, technically the Phillies have more money than the Mets and Yankees, since one of their owners sold his business for over $2 billion, which makes him worth more than Steinbrenner, if I am not mistaken.

Give me a break with the money. The Mets are a bunch of choking dogs. Santana will help, but enjoy that $22 million a year when he's no longer at the top of his game in 2-3 years. Blah, blah, blah - the Mets will be able to spend more money in the future. Who cares - look at all the money the Cubs spent? They barely won the worst division in baseball, and if they played in a reald division, they wouldn't have even made the wild card.

Norma...my sister is a producer for MLB Productions and gets me seats to games at Shea, Citizens and anywhere else I would like. I think your park is very nice..a real hitters park. But whenever I go there...about 5 times now...it's amazing how many Met fans are there. At Shea, you'll see a few Filly fans...spattered about. It's not even close. Philadelphia is football town...the Fillies take a back seat to the Eagles.
The Yankees, Mets and Dodgers are regularly at the top of baseball attendance figures.
But then again, Philadelphia is kind of like New York City's little brother.

AJ....Lucky you! Would your sister like another member of the family? LOL!

You are absolutely right about the number of Mets fans at Phillie's games! But I have to go back to the size of the parks. Maybe the # of Phillies fans at Shea just aren't as noticable because of the size of the park.

And I totally agree about Philly being a football town. But baseball's catching up!

Philly....."New York's little brother"? That's cold, AJ! LOL!

If you check MLB.com there's a video of a radio broadcast between MLB radio and some reporter who covers the NL East and at one time covered the Mets for 5 years. In affect he says the Mets didn't give up as much for Santana as he thought they'd have to give up. There's 1 more quality outfielder the Mets refused to give up. They gave up 2 1st round pick starting pitchers and a 19yr old fireballer from Venezuela and an outstanding 5 tool outfielder. He went on to say the Mets farm system has deteriated under Minaya (though one of the 1st round pitchers was a Minaya pick) and the Mets have no one of quality left in their farm system. The only highly regarded player left is the outfielder the Mets refused to deal (we'll see him when Alou breaks down again this season). He said he won't go so far as to say the Mets farm system is regarded as a joke but it is in very bad shape. This is very serious for Mets fans and I'm not just trying to be spiteful. No matter how rich you are you have to build from the minor leagues to be truly competetive. Most teams add free agents to put the finishing touches on a team. They build great teams thru their systems. Just look at Wright and Reyes. You really can't get guys like that every year thru free agency because they aren't on the market and you lose draft picks when you sign those guys. Minaya is killing the Mets from the inside out. Millidge, the guy who went to the Twins and this guy the have in the minors are 3 really good outfielders who probably could have played on each side of Beltran. Now two of them are gone. This guy Minaya is running the team like a fan would. He's spending a fortune and stripping the minor league system. If the Mets don't win the division Minaya and Randolph are history. It's gonna take years to rebuild the Mets when Pedro, El Duque, Delgado and Alou leave which will probably be after this year. This is it Mets fans. It's this year or bust because it's all those old guys got left. Check out that MLB site. The reporter has a Polish name.

Norma,
I think the reason there are a lot of Met fans at your home games against the Mets is New Jersey. You see, the Met games were originally carried by NYC local station WOR-TV for many years.But the station broadcasted out of and was located in NJ. All of NJ had access to WOR-TV. So therefore New Jersey has a very large amount of Met fans, and for many it's easier/closer to see them play at CBP.
OK...I was "cold" about the Phily/NYC thing...but it's all in jest you know!
Good luck with your Phils this year..you have a very good team, and it will be a war in each of those 18 games the Mets play against them.
Let the teams stay healthy and let the best team win.
PS: my fantasy team has Wright-Reyes-Utley-Howard....now that's a very young, allstar infield if I ever saw one!

Wright overated? has better lifetime per year stats then Utley and is 5 years younger. BTW he doesn't play in band box of a stadium.

Johnny P.
Farm systems can be repaired very quickly. They gave up #'s 2,4,5&7 in their farm system. They retained their #1 pitcher (Pelfrey) and #1 position player (Martinez). There's not many teams out there that would not make that trade. But most could not afford the contract he had to get. That's why it was always between the Mets, Yanks and Red Sox. And the Sox and Yanks were more interested in keeping him away from each other as there payrolls are already the two highest.
That's why the Mets were able to get the best pitcher in baseball for a few very good but not great prospects. Don't tell me the Phils wouldn't have made that deal if they had the money.
And I don't believe Minaya is on thin ice. But I'll tell you who is...Willie Randolph is history if they don't make the playoffs...guaranteed.

Actually farm systems can't be rebuilt quickly. Especially if you don't have 1st round picks. The Phils have been trying to rebuild their farm system for as long as I can remember. Guys don't pan out and others get hurt. It's long and tedious. The Braves have had a great farm system. The Twins also had a very good farm system. The Phils actually have had some luck though they've been very much maligned. Utley, Howard (boy did they get lucky there), Rollins and Victorino. Not enough pitching though. That same MLB interview mentioned Pelfry. The guy said the jury's still out on him. He's a hard thrower but has control problems. I have nothing to gain by saying Minaya is killing the Mets' future. There are so few people who are really good GM's. I freely admitted Ed Wade was a good guy and drafted all those guys I mentioned above but he didn't really have that talent that finds good talent which isn't obvious. In all the years I've followed the Phils I've only seen 2 GM's with that kind of talent. Paul Owens and Pat Gillick. The Braves Gm was like that. That guy Saurholtz. I was glad to see him retire. He was outstanding.

Minaya took over a losing team in 2005 and resurrected them...one game away from the Series in 2006 and a contender almost immediately. Granted, he has the re$ource$ from the Wilpons, but he was hired to turn the ship around quickly and he did. With a new ballpark opening next year (kind of a neat looking retro-styled Ebbets Field), it was imperative that the Mets become contenders asap.
He did what he had to do. He will have to address the farm system now too. Let's see what he does.

AJ, your explaination for why there is more Mets fans is a bunch of BS. I'm from Jersey and I'm a Phils fan, I live halfway between New York and Philly in Mercer county and there are plenty of Phils fans out here. I say if your from south jersey or near the deleware valley you should be a Phillies fan. If your from my area I would understand because you have a choice between rooting for either the Philly teams or the New York teams. Since my family is from philly and my first baseball was at the vet I'm a phillies fan. My first football game was at the vet and I'm an eagles fan. My first basketball game was at the Spectrum so I'm a Sixers fan. I think the real reason there appears to be lots of Mets fans in CBP is because since the ballpark is little smaller than Shea, it gives you the illusion that there are more of them there.

AJ, your explaination for why there is more Mets fans is a bunch of BS. I'm from Jersey and I'm a Phils fan, I live halfway between New York and Philly in Mercer county and there are plenty of Phils fans out here. I say if your from south jersey or near the deleware valley you should be a Phillies fan. If your from my area I would understand because you have a choice between rooting for either the Philly teams or the New York teams. Since my family is from philly and my first baseball was at the vet I'm a phillies fan. My first football game was at the vet and I'm an eagles fan. My first basketball game was at the Spectrum so I'm a Sixers fan. I think the real reason there appears to be lots of Mets fans in CBP is because since the ballpark is little smaller than Shea, it gives you the illusion that there are more of them there.

I think it comes down to this: AJ, why are you posting on a blog on the Philly Inquirer website meant for Phillies fans? Your team just signed the best player on the market this year. I'd be celebrating your "can't-miss" team on some Mets blog, not picking stupid fights with Phillies fans. Get a life.

David Wright is a roto-geek's dream. I know what his numbers are but I haven't seen him deliver a really big hit. And that goes for his teammates too.

Yes, he's younger than (near-MVP) Utley, MVP Rollins and MVP Howard. No, I wouldn't trade any of them for Wright. Why? Because they play HARDER and there are no roto stats for that. Wright is content. He loves the NY spotlight. Seems OK with playing golf in October. Good. New York is perfect for him. And A-Rod.

In terms of average age, if you take Moyer off the Phillies' roster it drops dramatically. We all like Moyer but we know what he has left in the tank -- enough to be an OK No. 5 starter. The Phillies bench is also older -- and that's a good thing, for bench players who have to accept their limited (but important) roles.

One of the post-ers said there is a rumor of the Phillies going after Kazimir or Bedard. Either one would be great. Kazimir might be more realistic. Wow. I hope that's right.

AJ is a moron!! It was nice to seee him sort of apologize, but get real. Im like matt,but live in hunterdon county NJ, bout the same milage from philly and NYC. Shea is a pain in the balls to get to, and CBP is an easy ride down I95, even for Newyorkers. Shea is a dump too,Mut fans dont even want to go there,so why would Phillies fans want to go there??? And I listen to the FAN alot and remember the madd dogg Chris Russo saying that it was a joke at shea last year cause there was NOBODY was there. So I turned on the muts game that night and he was right, it was a joke! And it isnt easy to rebuild a SOLID farm system. Any old farm system sure, buy not a solid one. As far as Minaya goes, any decent GM could have made those moves when you basically have unlimited resources at your disposal. Thats not that hard to do, money talks ya know!

There is one reason that lots of Mets fans are present at Citizen's Bank Park when the two teams play each other: Shea Stadium is one of the worst ballparks in MLB, and the Mets fans are dying to see a ballgame in a nice park. I can't blame 'em.

As to Santana, he's a huge pick-up, but if there ever was a team out there that could pick up a star player and watch him flop, it's the Mets (can you say Bobby Bonilla?)...

Thankfully, we'll get to see how this plays out soon enough - between the lines, where it counts.

Eman,your right with wright lol I still cant believe he won a gold glove last year!! He had like the 5th or 6th most errors in the NL, and a .954 fielding %. How does he win a gold glove??? I could see if he was in top 3 and it was really close, then its up in the air as far as who wins. I dont think he was even top 5 as far as fielding % what a joke!!!!! He was 8th for gods sake, just looked it up, how pathetic!!!

Norma, Im not 100% certain on this, but a few MLB teams have their own networks on TV, and basically make them more money and revenue for the owners of those teams. Something like that

Clinton NJ...you sound dumber than that other Clinton moron...Hillary.
Eman...you wouldn't know a great third baseman if one bit you in the ass. If Wright played his home games in that bandbox little league ball park of yours, his stats would be even better. And they're great now. And he's 3 years younger than any of your starters, (as is Reyes). Wright will be a thorn in the Filly's side for many years to come. An allstar now, and superstar in the making.
Matt...I just like riling up the Filly phans. I get a kick out of busting on those losers.lol

David Wright finished 4th in the 2008 MVP voting Utley 8th.Wright likes golf so do Sillies players, long time between playoff appearences eh? Take Moises Alou from the Mets and their average age drops drastically!

AJ = LOSER

Mets = chokers

Last year the Mets spent waaaaaaaaay more money than the Phils, and they still couldn't win.

Why should this year be any different.

Oh, and just how different was Santana's W-L record than Jamie Moyer's for 2007.

Hmmmm, yeah, that should pretty much give you the division.

One more thing...

If you add the salaries for all of the Florida Marlins' pitchers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders..yep, the entire roster...then you double it, they will ALMOST equal what the Mets are paying Santana.

And you still won't win the division.

Hey Anonymous...the Mets have Santana, the best pitcher in baseball and the Fillies don't. Get over it.
Now Moyer is as good as Santana. What are you smoking? Or are you just this dumb naturally?

AJ,

Yeah, the Mets have a lot more money than the Phils.

They are also like the retarded high school kid who is beat up by the Middle School kids.

Lets remember...the Phillies are the defending NL EAST Champs...not the N.Y Muts

AJ.....I kind of like your fantasy infield. Of course, I would have picked J.Roll for short. LOL! And I think every fantasy team in the world has Chase! Good luck with that!

A.J. your a troll.

But a happy troll with Santana topping a great rotation
But all is not lost Filly phans....I hear the Fillies are going to get their Latin lefty too! The Mets get Santana, and the Fillies get Odalis Perez (2007 ERA 5.57). Now thats what I call a great pickup by the Fillies! lol

I hope that the money the Mets spent on Santana will show the Phillies' ownership what it is going to cost to compete in NL East. Hopefully, they will consider $10 million to be a bargain for Howard and give him the money. Or they may realize that it's too expensive for them to stay in baseball and perhaps they will finally sell the team.

Some of these comments are downright silly. Mets six best players are in their primes or approaching primes - Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Santana, Maine and Perez - so they are hardly old. Mets were downright awful last year, getting sub-par years from almost everyone except for Wright, Maine and Perez, lost practically every game they played against the Phils and yet they still led by 7 with 17 to play. Further, can you name a Phillie on offense who did not at least have a good year last year (most had career years) and yet the Phils needed a Mets collapse to get it done. Santana not only gives them one of the best players in baseball, but he takes huge pressure off the bullpen, which is what did them in late in the year. As for vaunted Phils offense, two teams scored almost the same number of runs on the roads, so the big difference is all home ballpark. Mets will march out 3 15 game winners, Pedro Martinez and El Duque, the Phillies don't even come close to this. Face it, barring catastrophic injuries (i.e. Wright, Beltran, Reyes or Santana), the Mets will win this by five games at least.

Is that the best you could come up with AJ?? I sound dumb? You know what I said is true, when the muts needed the fans the most in september, no one was showing up. Maybe they showed up on that last home game, can you refresh my mind, I forget what happened...

Well said, Matt. Nice to see someone other than myself with some common sense in these blogs. If the Mets can stay healthy, they win the East. The name of the game is pitching, pitching, pitching!

The reaction to the Santana trade by Phillies fans was absolute sour grapes. Very few Phillies fans are baseball fans. They know nothing about the sport. They just know that whomever the Phillies acquire is a an allstar. That is, until they start booing that player sometime around May. Funnier is the Phillies fans commenting on the amount and term of Santana's contract. Who cares?!? If Santana tanks, the Mets would just eat it. It's irrelevant. HAHAHA. My fellow Phillies fans are becoming pathetic.