NEW YORK — So far, the only benefit Johan Santana has derived out of being a Met is getting to co-star in a sandwich commercial with CC Sabathia.
In every other respect, he is getting eaten alive.

His team is hopelessly out of the division race, and on the verge of being declared dead in the wild card. Time and again, he has been let down, by the bats, by the gloves, and Tuesday night, by the closer who was supposed to be the cure for what ailed the Mets in 2008.
It is tough to know which is more barren, the Mets farm system post-Tony Bernazard or the team’s bank account post-Bernie Madoff.
And worst of all, the team he left behind is right in the thick of the things in the AL Central, as the Twins were every year Santana was there. And unlike the Mets, the Twins seem to have a future, their farm system having proven the ability to identify and develop the likes of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Matt Garza and, oh yeah, Johan Santana.
Leaving Minneapolis for New York was supposed to be a career boost for Johan Santana. Instead, it has been more like a career setback, his standing among the best pitchers in baseball falling, it seems, in sync with the death spiral of the team he plays for.
“I would say, hopefully his prime will last a lot longer than one or two years,” Jerry Manuel said before the Mets lost, 12-7, to the Cardinals in a game they were leading 7-5 after eight innings. “I do believe before he leaves his prime that there will be an opportunity for him to pitch here in the postseason. I believe that with all my heart.”
Manuel went on to channel his inner Nietzsche, suggesting that Santana might gain strength from the trials and tribulations of this unmitigated disaster of a season.
But Johan Santana didn’t come here to build his character, he came to build his bank account. And while the seven-year, $137.5 million contract he signed before last season may have accomplished that mission, in every other way, Santana is certainly paying a price.
The Twins finished first in four of the six years in which Johan Santana was their ace. Despite never spending more than $71 million on payroll in any one year — about half of the Mets current payroll for this season — they never finished lower than third, and after they beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-1, Tuesday night, moved within 2› games of the Tigers in the AL Central.
You can’t help but wonder how much better they would be this year if they still had Santana on their staff.
More importantly, you wonder if Santana ever wonders about it.
Because the truth of it is, in two seasons, Santana hasn’t been able to make all that much of a difference for the Mets.
The Twins, however, with no starter having more than 10 wins, could benefit greatly from having Santana in their rotation. And, probably, vice versa.
Had he stayed a Twin, Santana wouldn’t be as rich, but he certainly wouldn’t be starving, either. And you’ve got to believe he would be happier to be on a team that seems to be perennially in contention rather than a team that always seems to play its way out of it, a team that renews itself from within rather than one that rots from the inside out.
Moving from Minneapolis to New York was supposed to be a big step up in the career of Johan Santana. But rather than elevating his teammates to his level, more and more it looks as if the Mets are dragging Santana down to theirs.
When Santana left the game Tuesday night, having pitched eight underwhelming innings, he had a 7-5 lead and sat just three outs removed from his 13th win of the season.
But Rodriguez imploded, allowing two runs on three ringing hits, and Santana came up empty. Sean Green hit Mark DeRosa with a pitch as the Cardinals scored the go-ahead run in the 10th, and then Green surrendered a grand-slam to Albert Pujols to to make it 12-7.
Somehow, you have to wonder if Johan Santana allowed himself a glance up at the scoreboard, or a peek at the AL Central standings.
Compared to what he left behind, a sandwich commercial with CC Sabathia doesn’t seem like much consolation.