Santana gets a warm welcome (no kidding!)

Johan Santana made his debut as a Met Wednesday -- can the season just start now?

He sounded great, said all the right things, said Pedro was his idol and that he's looking forward to hitting in the National League. This guy is going to dominate, and having him at the top of the rotation will be huge, made even more powerful if Pedro steps things up in the final year of his contract. Wow.

How competitive is Johan? Read Tom Verducci's piece on SI.com about how close he came to walking away, telling Fred Wilpon he wasn't budging off $140 million. He budged by $2.5 million, and so did the Mets. He also told Omar "you'll get your clause, I'll get my Cy Young."

The final year of Shea Stadium will be a busy one, with a special concert on July 16. Called "The Last Play at Shea," the concert will be headlined by Long Island's own Billy Joel, who will become the first performer in history to play all four major New York venues: Shea, Yankee Stadium, the Garden and Giants Stadium. (What, the Coliseum doesn't count?)

I think Joel is a Yankees fan, but he claimed at the press conference that he recalls being upset that the Dodgers left Brooklyn, and said he "would have written more songs about the Mets had he known more words that rhyme with 'Mets.' Sounds like a fan contest for sure. Email us your suggestions!