The Bergen Record is reporting that Johan Santana’s shoulder has not been progressing as the Mets have hoped and the club now believes that they’ll be lucky if he pitches at all in 2011.
But according to Rotoworld.com, the paper might have misguided information.
The source told Steve Popper and Bob Klapisch that the team is concerned enough that they could halt Santana’s rehab if his light throwing doesn’t go well, which would wipe out the previous timetable of a return in late June/early July. However, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen has scoffed at the report, saying Santana’s progress actually “has been great,” and “he’s right on time, if not maybe a step or two ahead of that.” Mets GM Sandy Alderson also chimed in, saying “there’s nothing wrong” with Santana’s rehab. It appears the report might be misguided, but the reality is that if Santana does return for the second half this season, no one is sure just how effective he’ll be.
Interesting. Teams aren’t always truthful when it comes to injuries but Warthen is pretty convincing with his words. Then again, it doesn’t do the Mets any good to shed doubt about the injury progress of one of their players when he still has months to go in his recovery. If he winds up being out for the season then so be it. But if he still has a ways to go, why not just stay positive until they know more?
Either way, Rotoworld hits the nail on the head: Even if Santana does return at some point this season, who knows how effective his shoulder will allow him to be.
You may have hated his brash attitude, the way he ran his team or the way he conducted his business. You may even feel that he ruined baseball. But regardless of how you may have felt about him, there’s little denying that George Steinbrenner will forever be one of Major League Baseball’s icons. Steinbrenner passed away in July of this year. He will forever be a man known for helping revolutionize the business side of baseball by being the first owner to sell TV cable rights to the MSG Network. When things eventually went south with MSG, he created the YES Network, which is currently the Yankees’ very own TV station that generates millions in revenue. During his tenure, he took the Yankees from a $10 million franchise to a $1.2 billion juggernaut. In 2005, the Yankees became the first professional sports franchise to be worth an estimated one billion dollars. While many baseball fans came to despise the way he ran his team (mainly because he purchased high priced free agents with reckless abandon due to the fact that he could and others couldn’t), don’t miss the message he often made year in and year out: The Yankees are here to win. He didn’t line his pockets with extra revenue (albeit he generated a lot of extra revenue for his club) – he dumped his money back into the on-field product. Losing wasn’t acceptable and if the Bombers came up short one year, you could bet that Steinbrenner would go after the best talent in the offseason, regardless of what others thought of the approach. How many Pirates and Royals fans wish they had an owner with the same appetite for victory?
