Johan Santana met reporters Wednesday at Shea Stadium, where he will pitch the next six seasons with the New York Mets.
"Welcome to the city of baseball," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said in welcoming Santana with video highlights and Latin music.
Johan Santana adjusts his Mets cap at Wednesday's media conference.
(Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, was acquired Feb. 2 from the Minnesota Twins, finalizing the trade with a six-year contract worth a whopping $137.5 million US.
"I think the game is the same," he said. "I'm not going to let that affect what I do on the field."
Santana, 28, provides the Mets with one of the finest rotations in baseball — Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Orlando (El Duque) Hernandez.
However, as the undisputed ace of the pitching staff, Santana will be most responsible for erasing the painful memory of last season's collapse, when the Mets stumbled so badly down the stretch that they lost the National League East Division title to the Philadelphia Phillies by a single game.
"Somewhat, it allows us to, officially, completely, shut the book on 2007," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "It kind of takes away from the aura of what happened at the end of last year.
"We can put that behind us. And when your superstars have a fresh attitude - looking ahead rather than behind — that rubs off on the rest of the team."
"Philadelphia took care of us last year, they took care of business within the division," Wright continued. "And I think that going into this year, we have to fight to take control again of the National League East."
Late-season slump
Santana posted a 15-13 record with a 3.33 earned-run average in 33 starts for the Twins last season, striking out 235 batters and walking just 52 in 219 innings pitched.
But the left-hander lost seven of his last 11 decisions, upping his ERA from 2.60 to 3.33, and surrendered 33 home runs — the most in the American League.
"I don't know, man," Santana said. "It is part of the game.
"You're going to have slumps, I guess. I don't really have an answer for it."
Sanatana is 93-44 overall with a 3.22 ERA and a save in 251 appearances (175 starts) since making his major-league debut with the Twins on April 3, 2000.
With files from the Associated Press
