Tag Archives: Carlos Santana

February 13, 2025

Changes, Cleveland Guardians

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The Guardians acquired the following players for their 2025 active roster:

In addition, Juan Brito is slated to make his MLB debut as a true rookie, taking over second base. Brito hit .275/.384/.450 in his minor league career, although his power waned after moving out of the Rockies system. He still should do a good job getting on base.

Santana makes his second return to Cleveland, but he is no longer the on-base machine of his youth. He projects to under .320, where he landed the last four seasons. His power dipped, also. I have to assume he is a place holder for C.J. Kayfus, who has been an on-base machine in the minor leagues. His numbers dipped a bit last season when he reached AA for the first time. If he masters the high minors this season and Santana falters, look for a rookie replacement.

Ortiz, now in his prime, brought his walk rate way down in 2024 and his ERA with it. He replaced his change up with a cut fastball. Ortiz likely has some upside for the organization.

Sewald gives the Guardians another solid middle reliever. Cecconi comes off a season where balls in play against him found holes or went over the fence. I suspect his new home will be kinder to him on the long balls than Arizona. With starting experience, he will likely move to that role to cover injuries or high workload stretches.

This was a bit of stand-pat winter for Cleveland. It may be more interesting to watch their in-season moves.

February 3, 2024

Low Cost Champion

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The Twins agree to a one-year contract with Carlos Santana to play first base.

The addition of Santana could help replace some of the offensive production that Minnesota lost when it traded second baseman Jorge Polanco to Seattle on Monday. The switch-hitting Polanco batted .255 with 14 homers and 48 RBIs in 80 games last season.

The Twins are looking to go back to the playoffs for the fifth time in eight years. They won the AL Central in 2023 and swept Toronto in the wild-card round before they were eliminated by Houston in their AL Division Series.

ESPN.com

The Twins appear to be pursing a strategy of trying to produce a playoff berth at the lowest possible cost. They are playing in a weak division, and if a team reaches the playoffs, good luck can carry the squad a long way. Keeping costs low allows them to make necessary moves at the trade deadline to try to improve the team for the post-season.

This is the opposite of the Dodgers strategy where they build a dominant team that will plow through the regular season, get a bye in the first round, and get home field through the playoffs. Note that starting in 1987, the Twins and Dodgers have the same number of World Series titles.

I think this is a great example of teams finding the best path through a changing baseball landscape. The last CBA somewhat designed to get teams to spend more money on players, and one way was to give more teams a shot at making the playoffs. This is working in the AL East and AL West, but in weak division like the AL Central, the incentive is not there. Why spend to go from 86 wins to 90 wins if 86 wins might get you in the door? That’s a savings of $40 million (Valuing a free agent WAR at $10).

So more teams in the playoffs doesn’t necessarily mean more money spent to get to the playoffs. I’m curious to see how this strategy plays out.

September 16, 2023

Best Batter Today

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Julio Rodriguez stays atop of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings after a two for five in a 6-3 Dodgers victory. Mookie Betts, on the winning side, went one for four to remain in second place.

The Braves came from behind from an early 4-0 deficit to take a 6-4 lead over the Marlins, but Miami scored five runs in the seventh to win 9-5 and stay 1/2 game out of the wild card slot. Ronald Acuna Jr.two for three with a walk and a sacrifice fly for third place. He also showed off his speed as he scored from first base on an attempted steal and a single to right-center. His teammate, Matt Olson, went one for four for fifth place.

Yordan Alvarez of the Astros sits fourth after a one for three with a double and a walk in a 4-2 Royals win. All three AL West contenders lost on Friday, so the standings in that division race do not change.

Two players posted game scores of 77 to top the day. Carlos Santana of the Brewers hit two home runs and drew a walk in a 5-3 win over the Nationals. Santana is hitting .239/.306/.439 since joining the Brewers, with his biggest contribution coming from his power. Milwakee’s magic number stands at ten. They finish the season with three games against the second place Cubs. Ramon Laureano of the Guardians went two for two with a home run and two walks for his 77. An out machine with the Athletics early in the season, he’s hitting .248/.342/.406 since arriving in Cleveland.

July 27, 2023

For Want of a Nail

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The Brewers acquired Carlos Santana from the Pirates for a teenage shortstop:

Santana, 37, was dealt to a contender for the second consecutive season after going from Kansas City to Seattle last year. Long considered a clubhouse leader, Santana will fill in at first base for Rowdy Tellez, who, while recovering from a forearm injury, tore a fingernail on a chain-link fence while shagging batting practice.

In exchange for Santana, who is hitting .235/.321/.412 with elite defense at first base, the Pirates will receive 18-year-old shortstop Jhonny Severino, who signed with Milwaukee for $1.23 million last year and is currently playing in the Arizona Complex League.

ESPN.com

Santana used to be an on-base machine, but since the start of the 2021 season posted just a .318 OBP with some power. At this point, he really should only be facing left-handed pitchers.

Severino is just starting out, and seven of his twelve rookie league hits have gone for extra bases. He’s also 5 for 5 stealing bases.

July 25, 2023

Best Batter Today

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Shohei Ohtani and the Angels did not play Monday. Ohtani remains in first place in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings as Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers went one for five in a 6-3, eleven innings Blue Jays victory. Freeman drops three points behind Ohtani for second place.

Kyle Tucker of the Astros posted a 1 for 2 with three walks in a 10-9 walk-off win over the division leading Rangers. Tucker led off the ninth with a walk, and scored the winning run on a Yainer Diaz single. Ronald Acuna Jr.and the Braves did not play, leaving Acuna in fourth place.

The Padres did play, and Juan Soto drew a walk in four trips as the Pirates take the game 8-4. Soto drops to fifth place.

That game did produce the two highest game scores of the day as both Carlos Santana of the Pirates and Ha-seong Kim of the Padres homer twice. Santana posted a score of 83, three for four with a walk, and double to go with the dingers. At 359 career doubles, he’s one short of bringing the hit full circle. Kim posted a score of 78 as he added a walk to go with the shots. Kim is slugging a respectable .558 out of the lead-off slot.

November 26, 2022

Another First

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The Pirates sign Carlos Santana to a one-year deal, once again adding another first baseman to the team:

After a midseason trade to the Mariners, Santana emerged quickly as a leader, something the Pirates — whose oldest position player on the 40-man roster is 31-year-old Ji-Man Choi, for whom they traded earlier this winter — desperately need.

ESPN.com

A first baseman capable of hitting 35 home runs might be a little better.

Santana and Choi own a similar batting profile. They are low batting average, high OBP hitters with little power. This looks like a platoon to me as they left-handed Choi does not hit LHP well, while the switch hitter Santana hits lefties better than righties. Both help the Pirates get on base more, something the offense needs. Santana also hits lefties well enough that he might DH in those games.

First baseman hit particularly poorly for the Pirates in 2022, but none of their positions really generate anything close to good offense. Second base comes the closest. First base is easy to fix, and the Pirates found a low cost solutions. Developing good players up the middle is what they need to turn the team around, and that’s a much more difficult problem.

June 27, 2022

Making Room for Youth

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The Royal traded Carlos Santana to the Mariners for two minor league pitchers. The Mariners need to replace Ty France due to an elbow injury, while the Royals are ready to bring up a prospect, Vinnie Pasquantino.

“When I was growing up, I had a dream of playing professional baseball. But I just enjoy playing the game,” said Pasquantino, who was doing his laundry when he learned of his big league call-up. “I still do now, and I’m going to continue to try to do that as we move forward. I just love playing the game.”

ESPN.com

Pasquantino was hitting .280/.372/.576 at AAA this season, and for his career hit .293/.382/.574 in the minors. At seasonal age 24, he should be ready for the majors. The lost 2020 season for minor leaguers likely held him back a year. Neither pitcher received looks like a great prospect.

Update: Here’s a Kansas City perspective on Pasquantino.

May 16, 2021

Best Batter Today

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Jose Ramirez of the Indians uses a big game to stay atop the Baseball Musings batter Rankings. He hits three doubles and draws a walk, but the Mariners prevail 7-3. Ramirez leads the majors in doubles since the start of the 2016 season, but he’s in a very close race with Mookie Betts.

The Dodgers played a good news/bad news game against the Marlins on Saturday. The good news came from the 7-0 victory in which Max Muncy posted a three for four night to remain in second place. The bad news concerned Corey Seager. A hit by pitch broke Seager’s right hand, and he goes on the illjured list. He currently stands in fourth place in the rankings, but won’t be able to add to his score for a while.

This is a huge blow to the Dodgers. Seager is one of the best offensive players in the majors and a shortstop. That kind of offense at a valued defensive position remains rare. Injuries continue to test the depth of this organization.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.of the Blue Jays homered in four trips to move into third place. The Blue Jays shut out the Phillies 4-0.

A new entry into the top five came from the Royals, as Carlos Santana singles, homers and walks twice in the 5-1 win over the White Sox. Santana’s two free passes bring his total for the season to 33 in 39 games. Only Muncy drew more walks this season.

The best game score of the day goes to Eduardo Escobar of the Diamondbacks. He singled and homered twice in five trips against the Nationals, driving in seven runs. He posts a game score of 81 as Arizona wins 11-4.

Escobar’s power is up this season. Last year he collected 14 extra-base hits in 203 at bats. This season 16 extra-base hits in 150 at bats, more than doubling his home runs. His power comes at a cost, however, as his OBP remains extremely low.

May 1, 2021

Acquired Win

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The Royals beat the Twins 11-3 Saturday afternoon with contributions on offense from three of their winter acquisitions. Carlos Santa went two for four with a walk, Andrew Benintendi contributed two home runs as he collected three hits, and Michael Taylor double and singled in four trips. All three of them own decent OBPs after the game. Santana is slugging and Benintendi’s power is on the uptick. Overall, these three acquisitions are helping the Royals stay in first place in the AL Central.

December 8, 2020

Changing His Evil Ways

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Lifetime Indian Carlos Santana heads west to Kansas City and the Royals:

The Kansas City Royals and veteran first baseman Carlos Santana have agreed to a $17 million, two-year contract that plugs one of their biggest offensive holes while providing some clubhouse leadership for a rebuilding club.

The 34-year-old Santana was an All-Star two years ago in Cleveland, when he hit a career-best .281 with 34 homers and 93 RBIs. But he slid to .199 with eight homers and 30 RBIs while playing 60 games during the shortened 2020 season, resulting in the Indians declining his $17.5 million option for the upcoming season.

Chron.com

Santana is one of the great walkers in the league, so despite his lack of hits he posted a .349 OBP in 2020, so he still has plenty of value. Only Joey Votto drew more walks since the start of Santana’s career in 2010. Santana’s OBP addresses a Royals weak point from 2020, so I like this move very much.

September 14, 2019

Game of Inches

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Just saw a perfect example of randomness in baseball. The Twins are up 2-0 on the Indians, with the Indians batting in the bottom of the third inning. Cleveland gets their first two batters on, and wind up with the bases loaded with two out and Carlos Santana at the plate. Santana has a great plate appearance, working the count to 3-2. He gets a good pitch on 3-2 and hits a hard line drive. Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco is standing in the right place, however, and moves to his right to stab the ball and record the third out. Santana did everything right, and barreled the ball. Most of the time that would result in a two-run single and a tie game. Today, it’s just another out.

September 2, 2019

Exclusive Club

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Twins rookie Luis Arraez posted another good game Monday afternoon, going three for four with a double. That raised his slash line for the year to .340/.404/.440.

One reason for his high batting average is his ability to put the ball in play. He is one of three players this season with at least 200 plate appearances to record more walks than strikeouts:

HitterPlate AppearanceWalksStrikeouts
Alex Bregman5899874
Carlos Santana5829888
Luis Arraez2722722

Bregman’s stats are entering today, since the Astros game is still in progress. Note that even though Bregman and Santana walk more than strikeout, they still strikeout at a decently high rate. Arraez doesn’t walk that much, but strikes out less that 10% of the time. So while Bregman and Santana have good averages (around .290), Arraez is capable of leading the league in hitting if he can continue these rates into the future.

August 29, 2019

Best Batter Today

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Alex Bregman continued his hot hitting with a three for four night, collecting two doubles along the way. That keeps him atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. His teammate Yuli Gurriel homered and walked for third place, but Michael Brantley went 0 for 4, ending his hit streak and dropping him to sixth place.

Ketel Marte and the Diamondbacks took the night off, keeping Marte in second place. Anthony Rendon singled and doubled for fourth place, and Carlos Santana singled and doubled for fifth place. Then points separate fourth from fifteenth place.

August 24, 2019

Best Batter Today

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The Astros now dominate the top of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, and Yuli Gurriel rank 1,2,3 after Houston’s 5-4 win against the Angels Friday night. Brantley extended his hit streak to 16 games with a one for four, Bregman doubled and singled, while Gurriel homered and singled. The three are separated by less than two points.

Ketel Marte comes in fourth as he singled in four trips against the Brewers, and Carlos Santana takes fifth, as he reached base three times in four trips against the Royals.

Brian Anderson, who made a brief appearance in the top five and now ranks sixteenth, suffered a broken finger on a hit by pitch Friday night. He is likely done for the season, so that bright player won’t be threatening the top five for the rest of the year. It was the third hit batter of the game, and it came with the bases loaded, scoring the Marlins first run. That started a rally what would overcome a 7-0 deficit as Miami went on to beat the Phillies 19-11.

August 22, 2019

Best Batter Today

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Another day, another shakeup in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings. Ketel Marte homered and walked against the Rockies to jump to first place in a very tight bunch at the top of the list. The Astros gave Michael Brantley the night off, and he sits in the second slot. Carlos Santana homered, doubled and walked against the Mets to move up to third. Christian Yelich singled and walked in a rain shortened game to land fourth, and Nelson Cruz singled to drop to fifth place.

The top of the leader board keeps getting tighter as players continue to have great seasons. Now, 10 points separate one from nineteen.

Please remember this calculation is trying to show two things; who is a good, long-term player who is also hot right now. A little bit of every start a player made is in this calculation. Recent events count more. Marte is a good example of this. In his first four seasons he established himself as someone who did a good job of getting on base, with speed based power (lots of doubles and triples). In his seasonal age 25 season, his first in his peak years, he added home run power to the mix and a higher OBP. From a good base, he was able to rise to the top, and is clearly one of the best hitters in the game today.

August 18, 2019

Best Batter Today

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Mike Trout barely stayed atop the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings on Saturday. He singled and walked in five trips to the plate. Hot on his heels is Christian Yelich, who broke out of his slump with a five for six night, collecting a walk, three singles, and two home runs as the Brewers defeated the Nationals 15-14 in 14 innings. (Note that on Saturday there was a 1-0, 13 inning game. Something for everyone.) Yelich vaults back into second place, 0.19 points behind Trout.

Yuli Gurriel singled for third place, Carlos Santana collected three singles for fourth place, and Ketel Marte was given a day off, and stays in the top five.

Keep expecting a lot of movement as 10 points separate one from eleven.

August 16, 2019

Best Batter Today

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Once again, the top five in the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings sees a shakeup. Mike Trout reached base five times Thursday night with his fortieth home run, three singles, and a walk and now tops the leader board. Yuli Gurreil’s single and walk drops him to second. Brian Anderson doubled twice and singled for third place, while idle Christian Yelich drops to fourth place. Carlos Santana rounds out the top five after hitting two home runs, a double, and drawing a walk against the Yankees.

Ten points separate the top dozen on the board, another reason to believe the spread of talent this season is narrower than usual.

August 11, 2019

Santana Slam

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The Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the Indians and send the game into extra innings. Minnesota almost win it, but the winning run was thrown out at the plate on the same play the tying run scored.

The lead doesn’t last long, however, as the first three Indians reach base in the top of the tenth inning. Carlos Santana follows with a grand slam, and Cleveland is back in the lead 7-4. With five RBI on the day, Stanana’s total is up to 78.

December 20, 2017

Replacing Santana

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The Indians go to Yonder Alonso to fill the hole at first base left by the departure of Carlos Santana:

While Santana posted better number long term, Alonso posted a better 2017 season. They were very close in terms of OBP, but Alonso slugged at a higher rate. Alonso is also a year younger. If he can repeat his 2017 season, the Indians get a nice replacement for under half the cost per season.

December 17, 2017

Phillies Getting On

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The Phillies addressed a glaring offensive problem in the last few days, adding Carlos Santana on a three-year deal and trading away Freddy Galvis to the Padres. The Phillies posted a .315 OBP in 2017, ten points below the NL average. That ranked 13th in the league. First base came in at .309, while shortstop was a little better at .316. Galvis, however, holds a .287 OBP for his career, while his replacement, prospect J.P.Crawford did an excellent job of getting on base in the minors. Carlos Santana owns a .365 career OBP, and brings power to boot.

The Phillies may have gotten better on the other side of the ball, also. Enyel De Los Santos, the pitcher they received from the Padres, walks very few batters. Drawing a good number of walks while issuing few is a nice path to success.

October 9, 2017

Santana Slams

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The Indians get on the board with a two-run homer by Carlos Santana. With two out in the inning, Luis Severino walked Jay Bruce to set up the long ball. That’s all the Indians get in the inning, and the Yankees lead is down to 5-2.

Update: Roberto Perez homers off Severino in the top of the fifth as the Indians continue to inch back. The Yankees lead is down to 5-3.

November 4, 2016

Indians Rewards

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Terry Francona and Carlos Santana saw the Indians pick up their options today:

The Cleveland Indians exercised two future contract options on manager Terry Francona, who is under contract with the club through 2020.

The 57-year-old Francona managed the Indians to the World Series for the first time since 1997. Two years ago, he signed a two-year contract extension, which included club options for 2019 and 2020.

As expected, the club also picked up slugger Carlos Santana’s $12 million option. He hit 34 homers this season.

Francona kept the Indians over-achieving to within one game of a World Championship. Now he gets to build on that and break the Cleveland drought.

October 30, 2016

Cleveland Battles

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Carlos Santana leads off the top of the fifth with a double to right-center, going the opposite way against Jon Lester. The Cubs lead the Indians 3-1 after scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Update: Jose Ramirez hits a slow roller to shortstop, and Santana is off and running and advances to third on the out. That sets up Brandon Guyer for an RBI.

Update: Guyer puts on a good plate appearance, fouling off some 3-2 pitches. He finally gets caught looking for the second out.

Update: Roberto Perez grounds out to short, and the Indians let a good chance for a run slip by. Halfway through the game the Cubs lead the Indians 3-1.

October 29, 2016

Santana Slams

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Carlos Santana plays first tonight instead of Mike Napoli. Santana leads off the second inning for the Indians and hammers a pitch into the wind. He kept the trajectory low enough that it leaves the park, and the Indians tie the Cubs at one. That was Santana’s first hit of the World Series.

Update: With one out, Kris Bryant makes a nice pick but a poor throw off the bat of Lonnie Chisenhall. The error gives the Indians a runner at first.

Update: Chisenhall moves to second on a ground out, leading to the Cubs walking the number eight hitter to pitch to Corey Kluber. The pitcher gets a chance to help himself.

Update: Kluber is making contact. He fouled off three pitches so far, one just foul down the third base line. Impressive.

Update: Kluber hits a slow roller down the third base line. Kluber beats the throw, which goes off Rizzo’s glove. That allows Chisenhall to score from second and Tyler Naquin to go to third. It’s a single and an error.

A groundout ends the inning, but it’s always nice to see the intentional walk to bring up the pitcher backfire.

Update: Cubs defense was one of their great strengths this season, but they lost the lead in the second due to mistakes in that area.

October 17, 2016

Unusual Ones

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Both Carlos Santana of the Indians and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays hit lead-off tonight. They both served in that capacity many times during the regular season, and it’s nice to see that managers are breaking out of the speedy second baseman/outfielder in the role. With bullpen usage and lead-off hitters, these teams are not just breaking the strategic mold, they are shattering it.

Carlos Santana scores the first run of the game as he walks, then with two out Mike Napoli hits a long drive to rightfield, and Jose Bautista dropped the ball as he was about to hit the wall. Napoli gets a double on the play.

Update: Jose Bautista strikes out looking on a pitch on the edge of the plate. It was clearly a strike.

October 14, 2016

Beating the Shift

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Carlos Santana bunts down the third base line against the shift for a single. If had bunted harder, but even just punched, the ball, he would have had a double.

Santana realizes that as the lead-off hitter, his job is to get on. He did just that. Unfortunately, Jason Kipnis followed with a double play grounder.

Update: Another ground ball ends the Indians first inning, and there is no score after one inning.

June 27, 2016

Francona and Santana

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Terry Francona uses Carlos Santana as his lead-off hitter, and Terry explains his reasoning:

”Speed’s always good, but at the top of the order, you want guys on base,” Francona said. ”You don’t want to clog the bases, but you want guys on base for your best hitters. That seems like common sense.”

There’s a nice little shout out to Dusty Baker in there, but clogging doesn’t matter, especially if you have power behind the slower runner.

May 20, 2014

Santana Worries

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A reader asks via twitter:

That’s a very good question. The first thing I looked at was his BABIP, which stands at a miserable .162. For his career, it’s .272, which isn’t great but you can get away with it if you hit a lot of home runs. (Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire both had low BABIPs.) The question then becomes, is his BABIP low because he’s not hitting the ball well, or is it just small sample size bad luck. If you look at his line drive rate, it’s just 12.3% versus 18.5% for his career. In other words, he’s hitting fewer line drives. Those lost line drives are turning into ground balls, as his fly ball rate, and HR/fly rates are about even with his career. A slow catcher hitting ground balls is a perfect recipe for outs.

So yes, you should be worried about Carlos Santana. He may be hitting into some bad luck, but mostly he’s making poor contact with the ball, driving them into the ground rather than into the gaps.

April 10, 2012

Carlos Hot in Cleveland

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The Indians and Carlos Santana agree to a contract extension:

Catcher Carlos Santana has reached a five-year $21 million agreement on a contract extension with the Indians. The team will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m,. to announce the deal.

The deal runs through 2016 with a club option for 2017. The club option covers Santana’s first free agent year.

In a Tweet, Indians President Mark Shapiro said, “Excited to get a multiyear deal done with Carlos that could keep him here through 2017. He’s an exciting middle-of-the-diamond run producer that we can build around.”

The Indians, who pioneered locking up their youngsters long term in the early 1990s, will capture Santana’s prime at a low price. Shapiro’s comment is excellent, as Cleveland tries to build a strong team up the middle.

I’m sure Carlos feels like signing right now:

Hat tip, BBTF.

April 8, 2012

Battery Powered

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Derek Lowe and Carlos Santana combined on offense and defense as the Indians record their first win of the year, 4-3 over the Blue Jays. Lowe gave the Indians seven innings, allowing five hits and two runs, both unearned. He allowed Toronto to put the ball in play, and only a fifth of the 25 balls in play against him went for hits. Santana added two home runs, including a two-run shot in the fifth that proved to be the runs needed to win the game. He owns a .438 OBP and a .750 slugging percentage early in the season.