There’s a very clear reason that Johan Santana’s road to recovery is NOT behind schedule, as has been reported by the Bergen Record. From MLB.com:

On Saturday, Steve Popper and Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record dropped the bomb that Johan Santana’s 2011 season might be in jeopardy.

Well, it’s only a bomb if you don’t read MetsToday; we wrote off Johan’s 2011 way back in early September. But that’s just me being all “gloom and doom” … or a realistic view of the situation, depending on your outlook. Personally, I tend to have low expectations for pitchers returning from serious shoulder injuries, and didn’t see any reason to view Santana’s injury any differently. It made more sense, to me, to plan the 2011 Mets pitching staff without Santana — and if by some small miracle he made a comeback, it would be a wonderful and welcome surprise.

But planning without Santana doesn’t sell tickets, and the Mets are desperate for revenues. So, the team will continue to spin the fantasy of Johan’s return at some point in 2011.

Putting that aside for a moment, we must wonder if Santana will be able to return by 2012 — and if he does, will he be anything near the ace starter he was before shoulder surgery?