Interesting Mets news from @jonheymancbs: Johan Santana wasn’t in pitching shape when he got to camp. cbsprt.co/Y5TtPV

— DKnobler (@DKnobler) March 2, 2013

I don’t know about you, but I remember the days when MLB Spring Training was held so players could get in shape as they prepare for the upcoming season. Until the past decade or so, players would enjoy their off-seasons, live their lives and not be engulfed by fitness and the societal (or contractual) expectation that athletes should always be in shape, 24/7, 365. I guess in those times, contracts were structured differently, where now they address weight issues during the season and off-season as well as detailing what off the field activities that players can and cannot take part in.

Which leads me to the point of this post. Johan Santana showed up to camp out of shape. A camp that revved up weeks before the norm due to the World Baseball Classic. A spring training, where Johan Santana showed up without arm or shoulder problems to rehab for the first time in nearly 2 years. Of course he was out of shape, but that does not mean he did anything wrong or that Mets fans, or media, should be in a frenzy. Is it more important for Santana to be on a mound now, the first week of March to make his Opening Day start? Or is it safer to have him start the season on the DL, possibly miss the first 2 weeks, and finish the season on the mound, which he hasn’t done in some time?

Santana is not as vital to this rotation as he has been in the past, despite being the highest paid player on the roster. Heck, the Mets highest paid outfielders are Bobby Bonilla and Jason Bay, who don’t even play for the Mets any longer. But this season is about the continued growth and maturation of Jonathan Niese and Matt Harvey and the eventual insertion of Zach Wheeler. Anything that Santana brings to the rotation will be a nice bonus as well as a potential trade opportunity if the Mets are out of the running come July.

Mets fans, and more importantly the media, need to cut Santana some slack. The guy has rehabbed for 2 years straight to get back to this point of being able to give, without taking any time off or even a negative word coming out of his mouth during the rehab and recovery process. Whether he is on the mound or not come opening day, he is someone who young pitchers in the organization can learn from and should wish to emulate in their careers, sans the being able to stay healthy towards the end part.

Santana, like Beltran, is a player that fans have under appreciated while he has been here in New York donning the orange and blue, but will be greatly missed when he is gone. Santana is forever a part of Mets history, thanks to June 1st 2012 and his pitching the franchise’s first ever No-Hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite whether he lived up to the dollar value of his contract, as fans we have to remember, aside from Carlos Gomez, who is a decent major league outfielder and a likely target of Alderson next off-season, not much was really given up in acquiring him back in 2008.

But don’t worry, uber positive Mets beat reporter to the rescue:

Do we all realize how idiotic critricism of johan is? This is a guy that worked his butt off last year to return and oh btw pitch a no no

— Rich Coutinho (@coutinho9) March 3, 2013

Anyone who doesn’t follow Rich on Twitter really needs to do so ASAP!