Says Mike Bauman.

Bauman, a national correspondant for MLB.com, offers an interesting perspective as he’s not a observer of the Mets on a daily basis. But I think he’s right.

The question is not whether Johan Santana is good enough to merit the largest pitching contract in history. The question is whether the New York Mets are going to be good enough to fully benefit from Santana’s presence.
In a real-world sense, nobody deserves $137.5 million over six years unless he or she is discovering a cure for cancer. But in a baseball sense, this is what the market allows Santana to make, and it is not his fault for being able to make it.

Good job by Bauman puting the money in its proper perspective. Here’s more:

Is it money well spent for the Mets? It is impossible to know that three months into a six-year deal. But this much is certain: Nobody would spend that kind of money for a pitcher to perform on a .500 team. The Mets obviously expected much more of themselves this season, but at the moment, with the mathematical midpoint of the season one game away, they are 39-41.

If the Mets are unable to put a better line-up on the field beyond David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, Santana’s career may parallel that path taken by Steve Charlton. The current sum of the parts are not good and play just well enough to play .500. It was on display during last night’s loss to Andy Pettitte and the Yankees.

While there is clearly no shame in being bested by a big game legend as Pettitte, the Mets have no such luxury. They cannot waste Santana’s starts and allow him to get beat by a run at home. Santana has now gottem the loss in four of his last five starts. His last win was on June 1st against the Dodgers at Shea. That June 1st win was the only one among six June starts by Santana the Mets were victorius.