Guardians sign Carlos Santana to one-year deal

Guardians sign Carlos Santana to one-year deal

Another first baseman off the board!

After Christian Walker and Paul Goldschmidt signed respective deals with the Astros and Yankees, free agent first baseman Carlos Santana has signed with the Cleveland Guardians on a one-year, $12 million deal, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan first reported Saturday evening.

Santana, 38, returning to the Guardians–where he spent 10 seasons on two different stints (2010-17; 2019-20) is also on the heels of the team flipping first baseman Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-hander Slade Cecconi plus a Competitive B draft pick.

First baseman Carlos Santana and the Cleveland Guardians are in agreement on a one-year, $12 million contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. The Guardians traded Josh Naylor, and now they bring the 38-year-old Santana back for his third stint with the organization.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2024

Santana was arguably the top first baseman available on the market after the other aforementioned dominoes dropped. His market was comparable to Goldschmidt’s, who signed a one-year deal with New York for $12.5 million. So I think Cleveland got the price right.

Last season with the Twins, Santana slashed .238/.328/.420 (.749 OPS; 109 OPS+) with 23 home runs and 71 RBIs in 594 plate appearances. The only All-Star season that the 15-year journeyman has had in MLB was with the Guardians in 2019, finishing with a career-best .911 OPS (136 OPS+) in 158 games. During that season, he tied a career-high in home runs with career-mosts in hits and RBIs with his third-most walks and sixth-most doubles.

The switch-hitter is still a very reliable defensive 1B. Naylor wasn’t, so that could help out a defensive infield led by Jose Ramirez and Brayan Rocchio. They no longer have Andres Gimenez–who they traded to Toronto–with Juan Brito expected to be the opening day starter (at the time of this publishing). The veteran first baseman should help in that department, though he doesn’t quite have the middle-of-the-order pop that Naylor possessed, adding additional pressure on Ramirez’s shoulders to replicate his MVP-like season.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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