New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson said recently that he expected rehabbing pitcher Johan Santana to have a “normal spring training” as he continues to come back from September 2010 shoulder surgery. Santana, however, does not sound so certain.

“My arm will let me know how I feel,” Santana said on a conference call. “Time will tell. We’ll see how it feels. I cannot tell you what’s gonna happen 5-6 weeks from now.”

At the end of my rehab last year, I felt good, but I also knew that doctors told me rest was part of my rehab,” Santana said of his work in the minors and Instructional League. “I had to shut everything down and now start everything over again. But right at the end of rehab, I felt good. Now, it’s just a matter of time and repetition … to see if the velocity is there. I don’t know what my velocity is right now. That’s why we have to go through spring training until the season starts.”

Mets fans need something to be optimistic about. Santana really did not provide that today.