First baseman Carlos Santana and the Kansas City Royals are in settlement on a two-year, $17 million deal, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Tuesday.
Santana grew to become a free agent after his $17.5 million possibility for 2021 was declined after the season as part of a payroll purge by the Cleveland Indians.
Royals basic supervisor Dayton Moore had stated earlier within the offseason that among the many crew’s largest wants had been a middle-of-the-order bat and extra guys who get on base.
Santana accomplishes each.
The slugger struggled in his second season again in Cleveland after leaving as a free agent to affix the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018. The switch-hitter had a career-low .199 batting common in 2020 with eight residence runs and 30 RBIs in 60 video games throughout the pandemic-shortened season, however he nonetheless had a .349 on-base share largely because of rating second within the majors with an AL-best 47 walks.
Simply weeks after being acquired by the Mariners after the 2018 season, Santana returned to Cleveland as a part of a three-team commerce that additionally concerned the Tampa Bay Rays.
In 10 whole seasons with the Indians, Santana has hit 216 residence runs with 710 RBIs. Along with taking part in in each recreation throughout the shortened 2020 season, Santana has proven his sturdiness by taking part in in not less than 152 video games in each season of his profession aside from his rookie yr of 2010 (46 video games) and 2012 (143 video games).
With Santana within the fold and Maikel Franco nontendered, Tuesday’s settlement seemingly means Hunter Dozier will shift again to 3rd base to permit Santana to frequently play first.
The Dominican-born Santana grew to become a U.S. citizen in 2019. He first arrived in america after he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004.
MLB Community first reported the settlement.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
