Mets' Santana to have surgery Tuesday
The New York Mets announced Monday that left-hander Johan Santana will have season-ending surgery on Tuesday.
Santana not only ended his tenure with the Mets, but his career could be over as well. Santana re-tore the anterior capsule in his left shoulder. He also had the same surgery in 2010 and missed 19 months.
He returned to pitch a successful first half of the 2012 season, going 3-2 with a 2.38 ERA through his June 1 no-hitter. But he was not the same pitcher after that, going 3-7 with an 8.27 ERA over his last 10 outings.
Rather than throw during the offseason, Santana decided to rest completely from August -- when the Mets placed him on the disabled list with lower back inflammation -- until February. He arrived at camp and immediately began throwing off a mound, taking regular bullpen sessions like any other pitcher. The Mets claimed he was healthy. But after Santana's second bullpen session, the Mets backed off his program due to what they termed "left shoulder weakness."
Santana's last guaranteed contract year expires after this season, and the Mets will buy out his $25 million option for 2014 after that.
