Adam Rubin reports that Johan Santana underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder this morning. The surgery was performed by David Altchek at the Hospital For Special Surgery in Manhattan.

The Mets are saying the he'll begin throwing in Spring. Some are saying in January, others believe it will be in late February. Some believe he'll be ready for Opening Day, other believe he won't be back until May.

All that I can hope for is that he makes a speedy recovery and he returns to whatever form he was in this season.

Santana went 11-9 with a 2.98 ERA, and certainly deserved a few more wins. His strike out rate was a bit down and his walks were a bit up compared to pervious years, but Santana was still in ace form this season, despite a drop in the velocity of his fastball.

Santana also threw four complete games this season, so he's arm isn't dead. I think this is just another injury and it's something that he'll have to work through. Who knows, maybe it will make his arm even stronger.

One thing Santana has going for him is that he is still relatively young at age 31. But the counter to that argument is that his arm has had a lot of wear and tear on it.

Being a generally positive fan I have confidence that Santana can come back next season and be the team's ace. The he almost has to be. It doesn't look like the Mets have the money to go out and sign another ace pitcher. They do have the talent to trade for an ace, but I don't think the Mets are willing to do that.

Right now the Mets have some good young starting pitchers; Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, Jenrry Mejia, Dillon Gee, are all going to fight for a spot in next year's rotation. Plus, R.A. Dickey will be here and hopefully he can repeat his 2010 performance in 2011.

First off, I think this is awesome what SNY is doing. Ralph Kiner is an absolute baseball genius and he still as sharp as a tack at age 87.

In this video he talks a bit about Bobby Valentine and how he is a knew age manager. Kiner sings his praises and calls him a great manager, but he doesn't like how he and other managers around the league rest their star players.

He also talks about he much the game has changed over the over the years.

And I hope Ted Berg realizes who lucky he is that he gets to sit down with Kiner and talk to him… I'm very jealous.

http://web.sny.tv/media/video.jsp?topic_id=13550320

In related news, Peter Gammons says that Valentine will either manager for the Florida Marlins or the New York Mets next season.

Oliver Perez pitched in yesterday's game, playing his first game since for the first time since August 30th, and only the fifth time since May 31st.

Perez pitched two innings, giving up one run on three hits, no walks, and three strike outs. It was the first time all year that Perez made an appearance in a game and didn't walk a batter. However, Perez did give up a run. In games in which Perez has faced more than two batters, he's given up no runs only once.

After the game Perez that he felt the best that he has in a long time according to the New York Daily News. Perez also said his goal is to make the starting rotation in 2011.

I'm sure that is his goal, and it almost has to be. His goal should be to become a good pitcher.

Perez said after the game, "I'm have one more year, if I'm here I'm going to do the best for the team."

IF you are here. Believe me Ollie, if it was easy to get rid of you it would have happened already. But I'm glad you are going to play your best for a team you are on… that is reassuring.

The Mets have moved outfielder Jason Bay from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Bay is still battling the post-effects of a concussion he suffered after running into the left field wall at Dodger Stadium.

They made this move to make room on the roster for Dillon Gee, who makes his major league debut tonight against the Washington Nationals. With the move to the 60-day DL it means that Bay can't return to the Mets until September 24th.

This all but ends Bay's rough first year on the Mets. Can't imagine his first year going much worse then this. He played a little more than half the team's games, and during those games he struggled hitting .259 with only six home runs and 47 RBI.

Bay had been cleared to ride the exercise bike, but that's a far cry from being able to hit a 95 MPH fastball.

Adam Rubin reports that shortstop Jose Reyes is expected to make his return to the line-up on Wednesday, the series finale against the Washington Nationals. Reyes has been out since August 26 after he re-injured his right oblique. He has been dealing with the injury and it never really fully recovered for the first time he injured it.

Jerry Manuel said, "he felt OK. He wants to swing again tomorrow and try to go the following day."

I don't know know if I would risk sending him out there at this point. The team is out of contention and they are playing like they are.

I would like to see Reyes back in the line-up though. When I look at this line-up the Mets have right now I think, "what the hell happened to my team?"

This is a type of injury that is going to take a while to heel. Trying to come back from it in a few weeks and play baseball at a professional level is hard to do. Figure it'll take the offseason to fully heel, and he should be 100% by the start of 2011.