New York Mets Lose Two Key Pitchers

The New York Mets have lost two of their key pitchers, in Johan Santana and Billy Wagner, continuingly making one of their worse seasons in recent memory, even worse.

Santana, who was entering his second season with the Mets and was their ace this season, learned that he needed minor elbow surgery, and would be out for the rest of the season. The injury apparently began after the All-Star break, and worsened in the weeks to follow, as Santana would lose more starts, and his stats blew up for the most part. The decision was made to rest Santana, since the Mets do not have anything to gain, since they are so far out of the pennant race.

Santana finished the season with a record of 13-9, with an ERA of 3.15. The Mets do not want to risk further injury this season, and hope that Santana will be ready to start at the beginning of next season. Santana is expected to start pitching in spring training next year. This is the second time that Santana will have elbow surgery. He also had the same operation in 2003, while a member of the Minnesota Twins. The Mets hope that Santana will return to his old self, when he won two Cy Young Awards with the Twins.

Then came word that Wagner, the Mets former closer and setup man, who was injured for most of this season, waived his no-trade clause and was claimed on waivers by the Boston Red Sox. Wagner was traded to the Red Sox for two minor league players. One of the players was Chris Carter, and the other player will be named later. The Red Sox intend to put Wagner as a setup man to closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Before the beginning of this season, the Mets were favorites to win their division of the NL East, and many people were picking them to either make, or even win the World Series. It seemed like they would be an unstoppable juggernaut in the National League, with great hitting, great pitching, and a great bullpen. The Mets had at least 10 NL All-Stars on their team, and were compared to the New York Yankees, as two of the best teams in baseball.

But because of serious injuries at the start of the season to a lot of star players, the Mets got off to a slow start, and never fully recovered. The Mets are currently 57-68, eleven games under .500 and third in the NL East. The Mets are more than 16 games behind the leading Philadelphia Phillies. They have virtually no chance of making the playoffs this year, and it would be the second straight season that they will not be in the postseason.