Johan Santana

Johan Santana is the most notable pitcher on the New York Mets and one of the most dangerous in all of baseball. However, his stats alone don't echo that sentiment.

With the surge in Mike Pelfrey's performance this season, Santana isn't seeming much like the ace of the staff anymore. More importantly, the team's offense is not supporting Johan like the ace that he is.

There have been rumors that the New York Mets and the Seattle Mariners have been in discussions regarding Cliff Lee. Lee obviously will not bring back the package that he did the past two times he was traded.

Lee will be a half season rental, and has stated that he wants to go to free agency. This is a smart move by Lee as he is likely to get more money on the open market with this winter's weak free agent class.

The city of Chicago has seen its share of hard times. In 1871 they had a massive fire that lasted for days. It destroyed everything in it's wake. The city rebuilt though and once again became a prominent destination in the United States, both economically and competitively.

They have had sports teams struggle in mediocrity and succeed to the heights of their profession. Among their teams are the Bears, who have such a storied history in the NFL that it speaks for itself and the Bulls, who have won many NBA championships and were the sports dynasty of the 90's.

The last time the New York Mets played the Cleveland Indians in Ohio, George W. Bush was in his second year of office, Emma Watson and Caroline Wozniacki weren’t even teenagers, and Sammy Sosa was still bla…no, whi…no. Never mind.

In fact, the last time the Mets played in Cleveland was the first time the Mets played in Cleveland. Heck, it was the first time they had played Cleveland.

Currently, the Mets sport a rotation of Johan Santana , Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, RA Dickey, and Hisanori Takahashi. Dickey and Takahashi did not start the season in the rotation, but after John Maine and Oliver Perez hit the DL, Dickey and Takahashi took over.

I've recently finished one of the most gruelingly busy months I've ever had in the five years since I've started my career.

In that time, I haven't been able to watch many, but I have been able to listen to every Met game, and I have to say I like what I've been hearing.

The Mets front office has made all the moves the fans were clamoring for (even if it did take way too long to do so.  See Gary Matthews Jr.)

Painful.  That is the perfect word to use when describing the Mets loss to the Padres in the series finale.

The Mets had a chance to accomplish something they haven’t since July 25 and 26 of 2009: Win back to back games on the road.

Unfortunately, they lost a game that they were one strike away from winning.

Johan Santana’s Aceness

I have always said that the true mark of an ace, is a pitcher that can hold offenses at bay when he doesn’t have his best stuff.

Do you know how many times Johan Santana has posted a zero for the Mets? There have been 14 times when he has not allowed a run. Not an earned run, but any run.

Four times he has earned a no decision in those 14 splendid games, including a ridiculous three times this season. There have been three further times where he has allowed two or fewer unearned runs in his two-and-a-half years in New York. He is 0-2 with a no decision in those contests.

If chicks did the long ball, there's not going to be a whole lot of love if your team is squaring off against the Mets.

For all of the questions about Jerry Manuel's rotation coming into the season, it has been an unlikely group of pitchers who have helped New York remain in contention in a highly competitive NL East.

Every team has their faults in the division, and with no one team running away with things one-third of the way through the year, it is as wide open as it has ever been.

When the New York Mets traded for Johan Santana, he was supposed to be the staff ace. He was for his first two years on the team.

Santana is still one of the better pitchers in the league, but he has had some struggles recently. Many are hesitant to continue to call him an ace.

Since Santana joined the team, Mike Pelfrey's pitching has significantly improved. Surely, some of it has to do with Santana's mentoring. More of it has to do with Pelfrey coming into his own.