Santana is a veteran of 16 MLB seasons and has a reputation as a clubhouse leader, which Gambadoro said adds extra appeal to the D’Backs on top of Santana’s contributions on the field. Santana is a strong defensive first baseman who eventually won his first career Gold Glove in 2024, and that same season he hit .238/.328/.420 with 23 home runs in 594 plate appearances for the Twins.
However, that solid 113 wRC+ campaign was followed by an 82 wRC+ performance over 474 PA with the Guardians and Cubs in 2025. Santana signed a one-year, $12 million free agent contract to return to his old stomping grounds, but this third stint in Cleveland didn’t work out, as Santana was released in late August. The Cubs signed Santana as bench depth heading into the playoff stretch, but he had just two hits over 19 PA in a Chicago uniform and was not part of the postseason roster.
With a total PA over 474 in 2025, Santana hit .219/.308/.325, with his OBP and slugging percentage each representing new career lows. His 11% walk rate was still very good and he avoided strikeouts at an above-average rate, but the near-total evaporation of Santana’s power was hard to ignore, especially for a player in his age-39 season.
The switch-hitting Santana had a big decline against left-handed pitching, which was notable because Santana has hit much more productively from the right side of the plate than from the left side in recent years. Since left-handed hitting Pavin Smith Being Santana’s platoon partner in Arizona, Santana would be dealing almost exclusively with southpaws, which could help him get back on track.
The D’Backs are the first team to publicly commit to Santana’s market this winter, which isn’t surprising as he enters his age-40 season looking for a bounce-back performance. Santana previously recovered from the bad years in 2020-2021 to post more respectable numbers in 2022-2023, but the question is how much longer the first baseman will continue to avoid Father Time. In addition to his career record, Santana’s strong glove gives him some advantage over other first basemen still on the market, which could help him on a team like Arizona that only needs a part-time first baseman.
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