Johan To Join The Rest Of The Team On The DL?

He's being scratched from his next start, will see a doctor today, and so far the word is he'll likely need surgery. That Johan is hurting shouldn't be a surprise with Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, and several others on the disabled list. The surprise may be that he's been hurt for a while now as the article mentions that Manuel has been aware of Johan's pain for a few starts. It was even bad enough apparently that Johan hasn't thrown in between starts for an extended period.

So, Manuel was "terribly concerned" about Johan's pain but didn't do anything about it until it got to the point where Johan couldn't pitch anymore? Great move! Elbow problems that progressively get worse don't just magically disappear, it doesn't take a doctor to know that. However, it does take someone that isn't an idiot, and I'm not sure there are too many non-idiots making decisions for the Mets recently. This is also a pitcher who had offseason knee surgery, experienced elbow pain in spring training, pitches on a team with nothing to play for, and oh he's also owed over $90m through 2013. But at least Jerry and Omar are back next year, right?

There is a large amount of luck involved for the Mets to have all these injuries occur this year, but the way they handled them could screw them over for next year. Carlos Beltran kept trying to play on a bad knee, Carlos Delgado kept trying to play on a bad hip, and Johan Santana kept trying to pitch on a bad elbow. Johan and Beltran could potentially miss parts of next year if surgery is required, and that's not bad luck that's just stupidity when you realize both of them could have rested to not further the problem or get surgery this year not affecting them for 2010.

So how can we tie this into Trading Tuesday? Johan could miss some time with surgery, Ollie Perez still has those "psychological issues" a/k/a bad control, John Maine can't be relied on, so basically next year the Mets are going to need to acquire some starters. Some targets to keep in mind:

Risk/Reward Free Agents: Ben Sheets, Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, Carl Pavano, Randy Johnson. These guys could be great, or they could not even pitch one inning. They are a good gamble for your 5th or maybe 4th starter, but not something to rely on. The Mets have nobody to rely on except Johan and he could be hurt, maybe even seriously. So maybe they pickup a Bedard, but the work wouldn't be done there.

Reliable Free Agents: There aren't many reilable and good free agent pitchers for next year. But some names are Jarrod Washburn, John Lackey, Jon Garland, and Randy Wolf. The Mets could try there hand with ex-Mariners Washburn and Bedard int eh back of their rotation.

Some Trade Targets: Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Aaron Harang, Jeremy Guthrie, and Gil Meche. All those pitchers are on bad teams and should theoretically be available.