NEW YORK -- Johan Santana is done for the year, and to say he had an up-and-down season would be an understatement of Cy Young proportions. Explaining that their struggling ace is worn down from two years of rehabilitation and near-constant maintenance, the New York Mets placed Santana on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with inflammation in his lower back and said he is not expected to pitch again in 2012. Doctors recommended rest, but not surgery. "I wanted to keep pitching. I felt that I could pitch. But at the same time, Im listening to them," Santana said. "They said that everything that I have done has been a lot. At some point I have to take some rest. At this point I think I agree with everything and weve just got to make sure we stay healthy and look forward to next year." The 33-year-old Santana missed last season following major shoulder surgery in September 2010 to repair a torn anterior capsule. He got off to a strong start this year and pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history June 1 against St. Louis. But he threw a career-high 134 pitches in that game and is 3-7 with an 8.27 ERA since. "I dont have any second thoughts about the way it was handled," general manager Sandy Alderson said. "This has not been a shoulder issue. So from that standpoint, I just dont see a direct correlation." The tailspin got ugly after Chicago Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson stepped on Santanas foot on a play at first base July 6. Beginning with that outing, Santana went 0-5 with a 15.63 ERA in his final five appearances -- becoming the first Mets pitcher to give up at least six runs in five consecutive starts. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner was 6-4 with a 2.76 ERA through June but ended up 6-9 with a 4.85 ERA. He threw 117 innings in 21 starts. "At this point Im very confident hell be back next season and ready to go and hopefully in a stronger position than he was coming into this year," Alderson said. "If you look back at the season and what we reasonably could have expected at the beginning of the year, hes actually accomplished quite a lot. I think as we got close to midseason we recognized that, who knows how long Johan can go? "I cant sit here and say this is a shock or even a surprise. Its disappointing, but thats the nature of things," the GM added. "I dont believe that fewer innings would have preserved Johan. ... I dont think he was overused. There were times when he had extra rest." A few weeks after Johnson stepped on his foot, Santana was placed on the DL with a sprained right ankle. He was sidelined for three weeks, a stint that was also intended to recharge his surgically repaired shoulder. But in his first game back, Santana lasted only 1 1-3 innings against Atlanta -- the worst start of his career. He said Wednesday that hes been feeling tightness in his back for a couple of weeks, but it really stiffened up on him in his most recent outing last Friday at Washington. "The work he did to try to command stuff, the absolute effort he had to put in to make each pitch, wore him down. And so, that was obvious. And you just knew that some adjustments had to be made," manager Terry Collins said. "I think the rest is the perfect medicine for him right now." Santana had an MRI on Tuesday that revealed the inflammation and the left-hander was prescribed rest, medication and intermittent exercise. "There is no issue with his ankle, no issue with his shoulder," Alderson said. "Obviously, with a back problem and continuing to pitch, that itself could lead to problems with the shoulder or the ankle or an elbow, and thats another reason why were trying to be cautious about this." Santana was placed on the DL retroactive to Saturday and New York will bring up right-hander Collin McHugh from the minors to start in his place Thursday against Colorado. So now, Santana will look toward 2013, the final guaranteed season of his $137.5 million, six-year contract. "Im very positive that everythings going to be fine," he said. "Its too bad that I have to go down like this, but its part of the game." The slumping Mets began the night 57-66. Santana said he will stay with the team through the end of the current homestand but after that, hes not sure. Alderson said he thinks Santana will want to head home to Florida to rest and then begin his off-season program. "Hes healthy. All right, hes got a tweak in his back. With rest and his exercises, itll go away. Theres no reason to expect that next spring we dont have anything but probably the best condition hell be in in a long time, with some rest and recuperation," Collins said. "Hes looking at the season as a positive. I think were in a good spot going into the winter. "Its time for a rest. But, when that rest is up, that rest is going to be over next February. And its time to get after it." The Mets had recently committed to a six-man rotation with the intention of giving Santana and Chris Young extra rest, but Collins said they might go back to a five-man cycle now. The 25-year-old McHugh hopes to have his wife and parents in attendance for his big league debut Thursday. "Itll be fun," he said. NOTES: Alderson said OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, demoted to Triple-A Buffalo on July 29, is expected to miss the rest of the season with a partially torn plantar fascia. cheap nfl jerseys china . Gregg skated a personal best 34.369 seconds to finish just behind Mika Poutila of Finland, who won silver in 34.361. Jan Smeekens of The Netherlands took gold in 34.32, setting a Dutch record in the process. "It kind of relaxed me. wholesale nfl jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.wholesalejerseysamerica... . -- As it turns out, there is nothing boring about a victory at golfs third-oldest championship. [url=http://www.wholesalejerseysamerican.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . Were talking about Toronto where the Leafs have not won a championship in four-and-a-half decades, and yet supposedly neither fans nor ownership have the stomach for a long, slow rebuild. cheap jerseys from china . On Thursday, the club signed free agent Maicer Izturis to a three-year, $9M deal.VIERUMAKI, Finland -- Catherine Dubois scored twice and Kimberly Newell picked up her first international shutout Sunday as Canada defeated Finland 4-0 at the under-18 womens world hockey championship. Hanna Bunton added a goal and an assist for Canada, while Emily Clark also scored. "We talked about habits, doing all the little things to the best of our ability and I thought we did a good job executing that," Canadian head coach Jim Fetter said. "We kind of backed off in the third period and the girls know that so we just talked about putting a full 60 minutes togetheer.ddddddddddddquot; In other preliminary round games, Hungary defeated Germany 2-1, the United States pounded the Czech Republic 10-0 and Russia beat Sweden 5-4. Canada, which defeated Hungary in Saturdays tournament opener, will play Germany on Tuesday. "Theyre another European team that packs in front of the net," Fetter added. "Its pretty tough to get shots through so weve got to a good job off the rush." The playoff round begins Wednesday and the medal games are set for next Saturday. Canada won last years tournament in the Czech Republic. ' ' '