The veteran lefty spent the last six years with the Mets.
The Mets are one of several teams that has interest in signing Johan Santana this winter, according to Jon Heyman. And Jim Duquette adds that the team has been in contact with Santana's agent, but they have not yet had a meeting.
Santana's time with the Mets over the past six years certainly had its ups and downs. Acquired before the 2008 season from the Twins, he alone could not get the Mets into the postseason. His complete-game shutout in the penultimate game of that season kept the Mets alive, but the team lost the next day and failed to make the playoffs by one game for the second year in a row.
From there, he was good in the 2009 and 2010 seasons but missed time at the end of each as the team floundered. He had to sit out all of 2011 after shoulder surgery, but he came back to throw the first no-hitter in Mets history in 2012 and had a 2.76 ERA through the end of June before his season spun out of control in a handful of starts in July and August. His shoulder once again in disrepair, Santana attempted to come back in spring training—which included a brief public disagreement with the team—but missed the entire 2013 season.
In total, Santana made 109 starts for the Mets with a 3.18 ERA, 127 ERA+, and 607 strikeouts in 717 innings of work. It would be great to see him attempt another comeback with the Mets, though it's hard to imagine the team—or any other—offering much more than an extremely-incentive-laden contract.
