Uh Oh

Mets ace Johan Santana has "tightness" in his elbow.  Now he's flying back to New York Monday for an MRI just to check things out.  GM Omar Minaya is calling it "precautionary", but don't tell that to Met fans who I'm guessing are very nervous right now.

I don't blame you.  I had to deal with this almost yearly with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

Reports indicate Santana may not be ready to make his opening day start in Cincinnati on April 6th.  That's at least the word right now.

But I've seen pitchers go down this road before.  Opening day turns into the first week.  The first week turns into the first month.  The first month turns into mid May.  Then all of a sudden he'll have minor league rehab.  Then the guy is instructed to wait until the all-star break to return.

I'm not saying this is the case for Santana, but this possibility has to be in the back of every Mets fan's mind.  If they were to lose Santana for a lengthy period of time, they'd lose their only bona fide starting pitcher in their rotation.

Oliver Perez, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, Tim Redding and Jonathon Niese are decent options for the rest of your rotation.  But any baseball person would tell you this is not a rotation that without Santana can contend for anything but maybe a first round exit in the playoffs.  And that would be the very best case scenario.

The Mets have good offensive talent and a bolstered bullpen with the additions of Frankie Rodriguez and J.J. Putz.  But how long would those guys be able to keep the team afloat without Santana?  Especially when you're competing with the defending champion Phillies, an improved Braves team, and an always pesky Marlins club?

They probably wouldn't stack up that well.  If I'm a Mets fan, I'm on pins and needles until the results of Santana's MRI come back.  If he's healthy, a big sigh of relief.  If this is a major injury or at least a nagging one?  Well, then I'm afraid the frustration continues for the Queens faithful.