3 months agoAccording to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Seattle Mariners offered free-agent first baseman
Carlos Santana a higher salary and a player option for 2026, but the veteran first baseman decided to sign with the Cleveland Guardians instead. The Mariners have been in the first base market all offseason and have been linked to other top options such as
Christian Walker. However, with Walker signing in Houston, the Mariners were willing to place a higher bid on Santana but were unable to agree to a deal. Instead, Santana choose to return to his old club on a one-year contract. Santana will now be the everyday first baseman in Cleveland with
Josh Naylor being traded to Arizona. Last season, the 38-year-old held a .238/.328/.420 slash line with 23 home runs. Outside of
Pete Alonso, other options at first base for Seattle are
Justin Turner,
Josh Bell, and
Anthony Rizzo.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: Ken Rosenthal
3 months agoAccording to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Cleveland Guardians have signed first baseman
Carlos Santana to a one-year contract worth $12 million, pending a physical. This transaction occurred just minutes after the Guardians traded first baseman
Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be Santana's third stint with Cleveland. Last season, the veteran first baseman posted a .238/.328/.420 line with 23 home runs and four stolen bases in Minnesota. He tallied 71 RBI with 26 doubles. He showed a great eye at the plate with a strong 10.9% walk rate and 16.7% K rate which placed him in the 82nd and 79th percentile respectively among qualified hitters. He also held a slightly above average .330 xwOBA. Fantasy managers should expect Santana to operate as the everyday first baseman and does carry solid RBI upside this season batting behind
Steven Kwan and
Jose Ramirez.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: Jeff Passan
4 months agoFree-agent first baseman/designated hitter
Carlos Santana, who is 38 years old, said he wants to play another three or four seasons in the big leagues, according to his agent, Ulises Cabrera. The veteran Dominican switch-hitter won his first career Gold Glove at first base with the Minnesota Twins in 2024 and is coming off his best OPS (.749) since 2019 with the Cleveland Guardians. In addition to his .749 OPS, he hit .238/.328/.420 with 23 home runs, 71 RBI, four stolen bases and 63 runs scored in 594 trips to the plate and 150 games for Minnesota in 2024 in his 15th major-league season. Santana has had a long and successful career as a patient hitter, with high on-base percentages being his calling card in fantasy. He's had a little resurgence the last two years, but fantasy managers can't count on that moving forward, and there's almost zero upside.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB Network - Jon Morosi
6 months agoMinnesota Twins first baseman
Carlos Santana (illness) is back in the starting lineup ahead of Monday's game against the Los Angeles Angels. The veteran switch-hitter sat out of Sunday's game due to a minor illness. Santana will cover first base and bat leadoff against left-hander
Reid Detmers on Monday. The Twins have been having Santana bat leadoff against lefty starters lately, so we'll see if that ends up being a long term solution. The 38-year-old hasn't been great with the bat, but his 20 home runs gives him some fantasy value.
--Andy Webb - RotoBallerSource: mlb.com
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