Which Mets $100 million contracts worked and which didn’t

The Johan Santana extension had a similar ending to the David Wright one

Before the Mets extended Wright, they did the same with star pitcher Johan Santana. Immediately after acquiring him in a trade with the Minnesota Twins, the Mets decided to give him a six-year extension worth $137.5 million.

Unlike the Wright deal, the Mets got a couple of superb years out of Santana on this new contract. Wright’s best days were in the past when he got his huge payday. While the same was true for Santana, he was relatively healthy for the first three years and close to as productive as they could have hoped for.

Santana was especially awesome in his first season back in 2008. He led the league with a 2.53 ERA and 234.1 innings pitched. He finished third in the Cy Young race, too.

Santana would pitch productively in 2009 and 2010 but injuries took their toll and he missed all of 2011. When he returned in 2012, Santana wasn’t the same pitcher anymore. In 21 starts he went 6-9 with a 4.85 ERA.

Of course, this wasn’t what we remember from Santana most in his final big league season. On June 1, 2012, Santana pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history. For this reason, the hearts of fans will say the extension was worth it. Logically, the 46-34, 3.18 ERA performance in four seasons with two missed makes it a little trickier.

Add in the fact that the Mets failed to make the postseason in any year of Santana’s tenure and I can understand why some may not look at it favorably.