The Guardians have reunited with a longtime veteran of the organization, as Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that the club is in agreement with first baseman Carlos Santana on a one-year, $12MM deal. The deal comes on the heels of the club reportedly agreeing to a trade that sent first baseman Josh Naylor to Arizona earlier this evening.
Santana, 39 in April, is a veteran of 15 MLB seasons who made his big league debut with Cleveland back in 2010. A catcher early in his career, Santana eventually moved to first base and has been defined throughout his career by phenomenal plate discipline. His walk rate has never fallen below 10.5% in a season across his lengthy big league career, and his strikeout rate surpassed 20% just once back in 2011. The one-time All-Star has spent ten seasons in Cleveland and will now suit up for an eleventh in year 16 of his big league career.
A career .251/.368/.450 (121 wRC+) hitter with the club, Santana has seen his bat decline somewhat since he last suited up for Cleveland back in 2020. He’s played for five teams over the past four seasons, including the Guardians’ division rivals in Kansas City and Minnesota. Santana has been more of a league average hitter in those stints away from Cleveland, hitting a collective .224/.320/.392 (99 wRC+) since he last played for the club. With that said, 2024 was a bit of a rebound season for Santana as he slashed a solid .238/.328/.420 (114 wRC+) in 150 games for the Twins while playing strong enough defense at first to earn his first career Gold Glove award. What’s more, even in his down years Santana has continued to hit well against left-handed pitching with a 125 wRC+ against southpaws across the last four seasons.
It’s hard to imagine the Guardians committing $12MM to a longtime face of the franchise coming off a three-win season just to make him a platoon player, and Santana surely figures to be the club’s regular first baseman in 2025. That leaves well-regarded youngster Kyle Manzardo, a top-100 prospect prior to the 2024 season who posted a 98 wRC+ in his first taste of big league action this year, likely relegated to part-time role with appearances at DH while occasionally spelling Santana at first base. With that said, Manzardo’s presence offers the Guardians some insurance against Santana’s age catching up to him as well; pairing the lefty-swinging youngster with Santana’s switch-hitting bat that has long crushed lefties figures to be a solid way to get value out of the first base position even if Manzardo doesn’t take a step forward and Santana finds himself unable to replicate his excellent 2024 campaign.
Notably, Santana’s $12MM salary for 2025 is identical to the $12MM projection put forward by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for Naylor’s final year of arbitration eligibility. That makes Santana and Naylor a one-for-one swap from both a financial and team control perspective. Naylor (118 wRC+, 2.7 fWAR) was the slightly better hitter but slightly less productive overall in 2024, though the 11-year age gap between the two means he also projects better than Santana going forward. Even so, the addition of Santana allowed the Guardians to trade Naylor for right-hander Slade Cecconi and a pick in Competitive Balance Round B of the 2025 draft without losing much if anything in terms of on-the-field production for 2025.
That sleight of hand by the Guardians had the side effect of taking two more names off of a crowded first base market that has rapidly begun to thin out in recent days. Naylor and Santana are joined in having found their 2025 homes recently by Paul Goldschmidt, who signed with the Yankees on a one-year deal earlier today, and yesterday saw Christian Walker land a three-year deal with the Astros. Pete Alonso is the top free agent available at first base and remains on the market, with players like Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell, Justin Turner, and Mark Canha still available in the lower tiers of the market. The trade market has fewer options who are clearly available, but Nathaniel Lowe of the Rangers, Yandy Diaz of the Rays, and LaMonte Wade Jr. of the Giants are all at least plausible candidates to change hands.
