NewsSantos makes Topps All-Star Rookie team
Catcher is first Mets player to earn honor since Wigginton
By Marty Noble / MLB.com
11/25/09 12:40 PM EST
NEW YORK -- Eight years after he signed his first professional contract -- with the Yankees, no less -- Omir Santos made enough of a mark with the Mets last season to earn a place on the 51st annual Topps Rookie All-Star Team on Wednesday.
The Mets catcher, who began his unexpected ascent in the final weeks of Spring Training, finished 10th among National League rookies in batting average (.260), eighth in RBIs (40) and 10th in slugging percentage (.391). He hit 14 doubles and seven home runs in 281 at-bats.
Santos, 28, was promoted to the big leagues for the second time in his career on April 17, when the Mets purchased his contract from their Triple-A Buffalo team. Ten days later, he hit the first grand slam in the history of Citi Field.
Santos crushed a more telling and prominent home run 3 1/2 weeks later, providing the tying and decisive runs in a 3-2 Mets victory over closer Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox at Fenway Park on May 23.
Santos, who appeared in 11 games with the Orioles in 2008, was signed as a free agent by the Mets in January. He is the first Mets player so honored since 2000, when Ty Wigginton was selected as the third baseman.
Other members of the 2009 rookie team include: Giants first baseman Travis Ishikawa, White Sox second baseman and third baseman Chris Getz and Gordon Beckham, Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan, who won the NL Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, outfielders Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates and Nolan Reimold of the Orioles and pitchers Tommy Hanson of the Braves and J.A. Happ of the Phillies.
Marty Noble is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
