A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

With both Johan Santana and Oliver Perez set to undergo surgery today, we turn to the 200 Miles From the Citi futurives (opposite of archives, I made it up) to see just how pivotal a day in Mets history this was.

July 28, 2025 - Cooperstown, NY - Ollie and Johan. Johan and Ollie. Like Tinker, Evers, and Chance; Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine; Schilling and Johnson; the names have been intertwined in baseball history.

They celebrated together on the mound after Perez relieved Santana in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, capping the Mets' fifth World Series championship in seven years. They kidded with each other as back-to-back co-Cy Young award winners in 2010 and 2011, beginning a stretch where each alternated as the NL winner of the award for eight straight years. And they sit together this weekend reflecting on a remarkable stretch which began with both of them on the disabled list and ends here, as they prepare to be inducted together into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

"My success definitely traces back to the surgery," says Perez, referring to the controversial procedure conducted at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. "I came back from that a different pitcher."

"I don't really remember much about the past 16 years, to be honest," added Santana.

The players both had surgery on September 1, 2009, suffering from season-ending injuries in a terribly disappointing season for the Mets. For Perez, scar tissue was removed from the patella tendon of his left knee, and Santana had bone chips removed from his pitching elbow. Those surgeries were conducted as scheduled. What no one was told until the players' careers were over, though, was that doctors also took part of Santana's brain and implanted it into Perez's head.

"It was very strange," said Jeff Wilpon, whose father's sale of the team during the off-season was another move that has been widely credited with the team's turnaround. "It was like a Frankenstein setup."

"From that day forward, I was like a different pitcher," Perez recalls. "It was like, 'Oh, you're not supposed to walk guys. Especially with the bases loaded!'"

The effects of the surgery are reflected in the stats: both pitchers averaged 17 wins over the next 10 seasons. Santana reached 300 wins for his career in his final season, while Perez recorded 4,000 strikeouts for his career during that final campaign five years ago.

Neither pitcher reported any negative side effects following the surgery, though fans noticed that every time Santana struck out 10 or more batters from the 2010 season forward, he would wet his pants.

Asked about their time together with the Mets, Perez said of Santana, "I think I owe him everything."

Santana replied, "I don't remember anything."

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? 2009 METS EDITION

In an effort to become the retrospective with the least time lapsed, 200 Miles From the Citi now presents a 4-month-later look at the 2009 Mets' Opening Day lineup and where they are now...it's been a long time since that 2-1 win on April 6th:

SS Jose Reyes - On the DL since late May. 36 games played, probably out for the rest of the year.

LF Daniel Murphy -One of the few bright spots all season long, Murphy moved to first base after the Delgado injury and has been pretty solid there, spurring talk that he could be a future solution at the position.

3B David Wright - The mainstay in the lineup was placed on the DL for the first time in his career after being hit in the head by a fastball earlier this month. Talk now is he may be activated September 1st.

1B Carlos Delgado - On the DL since mid-May. Just 26 games played. Probably done for the season.

CF Carlos Beltran - Played 62 games, hasn't played since July when he was placed on the DL, insists every so often that he's coming back, but I'd call it doubtful.

RF Ryan Church - After his own Mets stint on the DL, was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Francoeur.

C Brian Schneider - Had a DL stint, he's active now, but he's terrible. .179 batting average.

2B Luis Castillo - He's been on an absolute tear lately, but he's the living representation of the Mets' 2009 season, dropping the final out against the Yankees and really beginning the tailspin that is their season.

P Johan Santana - The most recent casualty, placed on the DL earlier this week to have bone spurs in his elbow cleaned up. Should be healthy for next year.

For good measure, J. J. Putz, also on the disabled list, also appeared in that opening day game in Cincinnati. And we could easily re-create this exercise for the Mets starting rotation from the start of the season, or their bench players...but it's all just too sad.

(I promised this post a day earlier, but postponed it due to the Jets' announcement that Mark Sanchez would be the starting QB. Thanks for your patience, as I'm sure you were anxiously awaiting it.)

ANOTHER SEASON-ENDING INJURY

It's absolutely ridiculous that the Mets have lost another player to a season-ending injury. It's absolutely ridiculous that it's another one of their stars. It's ridiculous when you look at the Mets starting lineup from Opening Day and everything that's happened since (which we'll do tomorrow).

But the injuries have directed attention away from a simple fact: The 2009 Mets were going nowhere.

And the injuries probably saved Omar Minaya's job.

Johan Santana was about the only thing worth watching on the Mets for the season's final month. Now he's just the latest of what has become an almost laughable string of Mets injuries.

There's probably plenty of blame to be put on the Mets' medical staff, since there have been so many injuries and they have lasted so long, but I want to focus instead on the way this team was playing before all the injuries.

Yes, the Mets were in contention before everyone started heading to the DL. They were in first place for a bit, even when people started getting hurt the Mets were within a couple of games of first, right in the thick of things.

But I've never seen a more uninspired bunch. And that was going on all season long.

After the way the 2008 season ended, with the Mets being denied a post-season appearance in the final game in their home ballpark (not just of the season, but of all-time), coupled with the fact that it was the second year in a row that they had met that type of fate, I wanted the Mets to come out this year guns-a-blazing and never look back.

Instead, they played 9-12 ball in April, the low-light of which was the tremendously lackadaisacal effort they put forth in what was supposed to be an exciting opening of their new home ballpark. If ever there was a night that indicated that this team was not built to win a big game, that was it.

But the Mets never got a chance to show how poorly built they were, because they didn't have their best lineup in the game for much of the season. And yes, that was an excuse for how poorly they played, but it was also a mask for how poorly they would have played.

Some key parts will change in 2010 due to expiring contracts and personnel moves, but two pretty important pieces will be the exact same. Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel are supposedly safe. And I haven't seen anything from those two spots that shows me that 2010 will be any different from the way 2009 started out, no matter who's in the lineup.