The Braves signed first baseman Carlos Santana to a minor league deal, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Santana was released by the Diamondbacks on Friday.
Arizona inked Santana to a $2MM deal in the spring. The agreement saw the veteran play just eight games with the club. Santana went down with an adductor strain in the first week of April. The Diamondbacks chose to cut ties with him at the end of his rehab stint. They’re still on the hook for the remainder of his contract. The Braves will owe Santana the big-league minimum for any time spent with the team, which will be subtracted from Arizona’s total.
The 40-year-old Santana did not look like an MLB-caliber bat in his short stint with the Diamondbacks. He went 2-for-24 with a concerning 30.8% strikeout rate. Even as he reached his late 30s, Santana kept his strikeout rate under 20%. It’s a small sample, of course, but that kind of deterioration in contact is likely a sign of decline. Santana’s swinging-strike rate ballooned to a career-worst 14.2% with Arizona.
Atlanta doesn’t need any first base help with MVP candidate Matt Olson locked into everyday reps. The team is largely covered at designated hitter as well, with Dominic Smith putting together a solid season. Drake Baldwin has also spent a decent chunk of his playing time at DH as a way to give him a reprieve from catching duties. The switch-hitting Santana could potentially factor in as an option against lefties. His career OPS is 62 points higher from the right side.
Photo courtesy of Arianna Grainey, Imagn Images
