PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Johan Santana, fully aware of the circus his bullpen sessions have become, gleefully played the role of ringmaster on Wednesday.

A few minutes before he was scheduled to throw, Santana strutted through a group of reporters in the middle of the clubhouse, waved his left arm and headed for the door.

"OK, follow me!" Santana said.

And everyone did, including pitching coach Dan Warthen, who may now find himself taking a backseat to Santana if the club's $137.5-million ace truly intends to pitch Opening Day April 6.

Under Warthen's original schedule, the one altered after Santana's elbow scare, the Mets' No. 1 starter would not take the mound until the fifth game, which would be April 11 against the Marlins in Miami. But Santana breezed through a 46-pitch bullpen session and felt so confident afterward that he predicted he would be ready for the Reds on Opening Day.

"You know what, we're in this thing together and have to take care of everything," Santana said. "I appreciate everything (Warthen) is doing. He's trying to protect me and the team. But as of right now my mind-set is Opening Day."

That opinion is shared by Jerry Manuel, who insisted it ultimately will be the manager's call to give Santana the green light for April 6. Manuel skipped the morning session to catch the bus to Viera, where the Mets lost to the Nationals, 6-4, but he liked what he heard from Warthen.

"Right now, as we sit here in March, knowing what we've got ahead, I'd like to see him start Opening Day," Manuel said. "Just because that's how we plan. I don't see any reason that we shouldn't."

What about Warthen's carefully constructed schedule, which had Santana on hold until the fifth game of the regular season? "Johan knows Johan, and he assures me that he'll be ready Opening Day," Manuel said. "So I have to agree with that. I don't see any reason why there should be any different plans than that. Not this first week in March when he just lit your eyes up on the sideline. You have templates that you like to follow. Everybody don't fit those templates. That's why he is who he is. They don't fit.

"Dan is just trying to protect him, more than anything. That's the pitching coach's job, is to protect his guy. He's not the manager. He's the protector. I'm the manager. And that's OK. That's why he can come out with different things or say different things. He's not Johan and he's not the manager."

Santana flipped through his arsenal of pitches during the session, adding a slider that he did not use on Sunday, and seemed to enjoy himself — as well as the extra attention. On his way to the mound, Santana shouted over, "You guys relax, OK?" With Brian Schneider behind the plate, he let out a few "woo-hoos" between fastballs and jokingly checked on his catcher after a slider in the dirt.

"Every time you see smiles on people's faces I think you're making them happy," Santana said, "so that's what I'm trying to do all the time."

The Mets are just happy that his health no longer seems a concern. Santana had to be scratched from his first two exhibition starts because of tightness in the left triceps tendon. But after a three-day break that ended with Sunday's 35-pitch bullpen, Warthen believes that the break quieted down the elbow. "Absolutely," he said. When told that Santana looked enthusiastic, Warthen added, "So is the pitching coach, and so is the catcher and so was everyone else."

Based on the Mets' contingent present, the level of concern must have been downgraded. "We're just going to be cautious," general manager Omar Minaya said. "All indications have been great. Today he felt great. Schneider told me he was unbelievably sharp. It's still in March, so as far as Opening Day, it's a ways away."

Santana suggested he could modify his schedule to be ready by Opening Day. "Johan Santana knows his body, he knows himself, and he feels good about what's going on right now," Minaya said. "Yes, it's our responsibility to make sure that we're cautious. But we have to work with the player, and that's what's going on."

In the end, however, it might be difficult to hold Santana back. "I'm a professional," Santana said. "I know exactly what it takes for me to be ready. I've been doing this for years now. I know exactly what I have to do. And I'm pretty sure I'll be ready for Opening Day."