4:59pm: The Angels are sending $1MM to the Royals, Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times reports (on Twitter).
4:15pm: The Angels weren't sure about Ervin Santana, but the Royals want to see if he can re-establish himself as an above-average MLB starter. The Royals acquired Santana and cash from the Angels for minor league left-hander Brandon Sisk, the teams announced. The Angels exercised Santana's 2013 option before completing the trade, Bill Shaikin of the LA Times reports (on Twitter).
“We’ve stated all along that starting pitching was a priority this offseason and acquiring someone with the resume of Ervin Santana immediately upgrades our rotation,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said in a statement released by the team.
The Angels had limited interest in exercising Santana's $13MM option option, but the Royals appear to consider it reasonable. The Royals quietly checked in on Santana's medicals yesterday before completing the deal today, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (on Twitter).
The 29-year-old posted a 5.16 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a 43.2% ground ball rate in 178 innings this past season. Santana's average fastball velocity declined to 91.7 mph, but his swinging strike rate remained constant at 8.4%. He had completed at least 220 innings with ERAs below 4.00 in 2010 and 2011. Rosenthal reported late last night that the Angels were trying to move Santana and Dan Haren.
Sisk, 27, made 50 relief appearances at Triple-A this past season. He posted a 2.54 ERA with 9.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 67 1/3 innings — numbers that match up with his career averages through five minor league seasons.
The Royals began the offseason with a clear need for starting pitching. So far they have traded for Santana and claimed Chris Volstad. Volstad remains a non-tender candidate, but Santana will join Bruce Chen, Luis Mendoza, Felipe Paulino and Danny Duffy in the team's projected 2013 rotation. It won't be surprising if GM Dayton Moore continues pursuing starting pitching.
The Royals surely hope this acquisition works out better than the one they made early last offseason. A year ago Kansas City traded Melky Cabrera to San Francisco for Jonathan Sanchez in a deal that didn't work out for the Royals. To their credit, they did flip Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie, who pitched well down the stretch.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the trade (on Twitter) and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports first reported Sisk's inclusion in the deal (also on Twitter). Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported two days ago that the Angels were exploring trades involving Santana and Haren. Photo courtesy of US Presswire.
Royals should have gone with Haren :/
Haren is too injury prone.
How is he injury prone? Haren went on the DL for the first time in his career last season and it was only for 15 days.
Injury prone??? You do know that Haren hadn’t been on the disabled list for around 200 consecutive games before this right? He’s been one of the most durable pitchers in the recent era.
Haren has pitched over 200 innings in the 7 years prior to this one, where he still pitched over 175 innings. How is that injury prone?
Were you going for an all-time MLBTR record for most thumbs down in one post? You’re well on your way!
username explained it all didn’t it? :-)
One injury in his whole career which was last year. Look him up and you’ll see how durable he has been.
I don’t think I have ever seen 100 down votes for one comment. This was quite a Halloween treat
yea, him and cal ripken just can’t stay healthy….
Haren went on the DL for the first time in his career this year for only 15 days… you’re probably confusing him with Harang.
Obviously, but you would have to give much more up…
Could KC have gotten Haren with just a minor leaguer?
Yep, Wil Myers would have done it. :-)
Thanks for the down arrow. I wasn’t exactly serious here. Heh.
P.S. Hope to see Myers in RF soon.
These are the type of moves that the Royals should be making. If they can stockpile starting pitching depth, they could be a force in the AL Central in 2013.
No because knowing the Royals then they won’t hit…
Does this make Haren no longer available. I know the Angels said they’d considered everything. However, this seems to make a Haren deal less likely.
They pounced on that pretty quick.
The deadline to exercise or buy out Santana’s option was today. Haren’s is Friday.
Seriously???
Good move by the Royals. I fully expect an announcement that Haren is going to the Bronx imminently as well.
Thank you Royals, thought for sure the Sox were gonna trade for him. We just dodged a very inconsistent bullet.
This isn’t a bad gamble for KC, depending on what they gave up. No long term commitment, decent upside…
Looks like they are committing $12/M to the gamble.
If Ervin Santana gives them 200+ innings with under a 4.00 ERA then this is a good deal. If Royals can hit and add another pitcher? They can def make a playoff run
The royals have way too many holes in their lineup to be a contender plus their best pitcher before the trade was Luke Hochevar, that is not a contending team
Felipe Paulino says Hi
…. i guesssss
what lineup holes are you referring to
Do you watch the Royals? The only glaring holes in the lineup, offensively, were Francoeur and whomever played 2B. Granted, Hosmer was disappointing, but he’s going to bounce back. And how do you evaluate Hochevar as their best pitcher before the trade? Hochevar was the worst SP in KC this season. Guthrie, Chen, and Mendoza were all better than Hoch, and Duffy and Paulino were both better before they got hurt, too.
Luke Hochevar is not the best pitcher, and I’ll take Ervin’s name in that rotation over Luke’s any day .
Even if he doesn’t do that it’s a good trade. They gave up nobody to get him. Only risk is the fairly high salary. He immediately is the ace of the staff. He’s not a star but there’s a chance he’s a solid #3 and potential #2. Good move KC. Also shows the fans that at least they are trying to add pitching.
which is why i wish the Indians would have made this move…
gotta be for someone in that young pen right??? the only fit…
First trade of the off-season for the Royals who have made pitching a priority.
Oakland, Arizona and Miami.
He said for the Royals, not the first trade of the off-season.
Santana is definitely a gamble but the Royals need to stockple as many arms as they can and Santana if he bounces back could be a nice middle of the rotation arm for them. I understand this move and now wonder what Dan Haren’s future holds in store. They only gave up Brandon Sisk to get this done. Solid deal
Stockpiling arms….yes….but a stockpile of garbage is still a stockpile of garbage…..the Royals won’t be a better team by just having 10 mediocre starters on the roster. Creating a battle for a #5 slot is great…but creating a battle for almost every slot in the rotation means there are serious issues.
Um…there ARE serious issues.
and that is why stockpiling arms won’t really help the Royals…because the arms they would be stockpiling are freely available parts. There’s not necessarily strength in numbers….one top end starter is worth more than four #5 starters posting 5.00 plus eras. All of the lower end salaries add up. It’s time for the Royals to use the farm system to build the major league rotation. The Royals can hit all they want going forward…but any rotation looking like the one they have run out there lately will still lose. The arms are way behind the bats and are no quarantee out of the system. Jeff Hochevar anywhere but the 5 slot means trouble.
who do u think they got in return?
One year, Gil Meche before he got injured numbers for Gil Meche cost. How does that fit their budget?
What?
I said that very poorly. Santana isn’t all that much different than Gil Meche through the same age in their career: their similarity scores are quite high. And the cost for one year ($13 Million) is very similar to Meche’s one year contract value. So I thought the mindset of the front office was comparable
Thanks for the no-hitter and the ’05 ALDS, Voodoo.
Great move for the Royals. Decent upside with Santana. Hopefully they didnt give too much up
Now, trade for the Braves Tommy Hanson … please.
Yes gives us Myers!!!!!
Keep dreaming
Tommy Hanson probably needs major surgery. He’s had a partially torn rotator cuff for a while now and its not getting any better, which probably explains the huge drop off in his average fastball velocity. If the Braves can trade him I’d be a happy Braves fan.
Jon Morosi tweets: Sources: #Angels receive Brandon Sisk in Ervin Santana trade.
So far the only name i’ve seen in the return for the Angels is Brandon Sisk. Royals official twitter says Santana and Cash for Sisk
Jon Morosi tweeted the same thing
Apparently the Angels get Brandon Sisk in return per Rosenthal. Not sure who Sisk is, any help Royals fans?
Looks like a AAA reliever. 27 years old, never in the majors. Did well but is older
Only 3 seasons in the minors at that age…guessing he was picked out of college and it’s about time to see if he can hang in the Majors or not.
Actually, five seasons. BR has that messed up.
27 years old. Last season in AAA 2.54 ERA in 50 games (67.1 innings). 73/32 K/BB. For all those sabremetrics, you gotta look them up yourself. ;)
Well at 27 he couldn’t make the Royals rotation last year, that’s pretty much all you need to know.
pretty much sums it up for me
i will say though minus the last season i will miss santana…hope things improve for the guy
he is a reliever, so he wouldn’t have made the rotation…
Keith Law says he’s basically a lefty specialist who has an okay fastball and a decent slider. Given that he’s 27 and hasn’t made it past AAA, I’d guess the ceiling isn’t very high.
Good move by the Royals. Was shocked when I heard the news.
How “NBA” of them to pick up an option and trade.
if the halos didnt, santana walks and leaves the halos empty handed. now we atleast got something in return for him
That’s true. I’m not saying it’s a bad deal. I’m just saying it resembles a NBA transaction.
Have fun watching all those homeruns, KC fans…from the opposing team. One of the most frustrating pitchers to watch. Either on or off with no in between.
“On or off with no in between”….you’ve heard of Luke Hochevar right?
You know he plays half his game at Kauffman Stadium right? That place has its own zip code. Will help him a lot, just like it did Guthrie.
If i’m a Royals fan i’m pretty happy. You give up nobody for a guy who has talent. If he sucks this year so be it, one year deal and you cut him loose. Say what you want about Santana but he goes right to the top of the Royals rotation and as everyone knows they desperately need starting help. Good move. Low risk with potential high reward.
If you call $13 million low risk.
Even with the $1M the Angels are sending along (in small, unmarked bills I hope), that’s still 20% of the entire Royals payroll from last year.
You know what the going rate for top FA pitchers is right now? $80 – $100m for 4 to 5 years. Santana fits well with the Royals’ plans to get their in-house pitching in the minors developed.
Billy Butler hit his first career home run off Santana. Then in a later game that season, Santana plunked Billy twice in the ribs. I thought Billy was going to kill him. Ever since then, I have hated Santana. Hopefully he can avoid the long ball with KC. Go Royals!
Next: Sign Jeff Keppinger to play 2B
Intradesting. He’s one of those every other year kind of starters but they needed something. He could thrive with a change of scenery.
Really? The Royals are only getting $ 1 MIL and, if assuming they pick up the option, they are taking a big risk money-wise. I know, stating the obvious, but just sayin’.
A one-year deal is rarely a “big risk”. What, is this deal going to prevent them from getting the players necessary to win a World Series? Stop-gap/flier…nothing more.
It’s a $ 12MIL risk. I think that’s big for a team like the Royals and Santana’s likelyhood of being a bust. Pretty expensive stop-gap/flier.
“The Angels exercised Santana’s 2013 option before completing the trade”
This is the kind of move the Indians should be making… would have loved to start the offseason going after someone like this. He may be inconsistent, but I have a major soft spot for Ervin.
because you were there when he threw the no-no?
haha, wasn’t there. just always liked his potential… he’s posted an ERA under 4 in three of the last five seasons.
let’s be real, he would be the best pitcher on the indians’ staff, barring a 180 from Ubaldo or Masterson. and even then, I’d take him as our #3. just want to see them make some moves and not sit silent. at least the royals are taking some initiative.
The Royals could always decline Santana’s option and pocket the $1M for Sisk. He looks to be a decent reliever, but who knows. Seems like something AA would do.
The angels exercised option then traded him. Plus they would have to pay the buyout if they did that
I didn’t catch the first part. Good point on the second though. Thanks
Like it, no way were we picking up his option. So we basically got a decent triple A arm for free…and the Royals get 13M committed to false hope. win win
Still are paying $1M of his salary.
Would have spent that on his buyout had we declined the option. Like Devon said, we basically got this guy for nothing.
And you’re going to find out if he’s worth that much.
Wont be surprised if Indians trade for Haren
I like this deal for KC. Good bridge to 2014 when Paulino (hopefully) and Duffy are back to 100% and Odorizzi and maybe Ventura are ready too
Seems odd this guy doesn’t have any big league innings under his belt. If those stats “match up to his career averages” they are pretty decent!
Poor Royals.
Guess I’m not the only that immediately thought the Royals got hosed in this deal. The prospect they gave up seemed to be a pretty decent one, and they only got 1M? If the Angels were going to DFA him anyway, that prospect only gave them the rights to his contract at the same rate. Horrible deal. If he became a FA, he wasn’t going to get that much money on a 1 year deal and the Royals could have signed him themselves, cheaper, and kept the prospect.
Am I missing something here?
I think what you’re missing is:
1) Sisk isn’t that great a prospect. He’s a 27-year-old who hasn’t gotten past AAA and projects no better than an average LOOGY.
2) KC is a difficult place to lure free agents. There’s no guarantee they could have signed Santana if he had become a free agent.
3) This is low-risk for KC. Sure, they have to pay him $12M for the next year, but he’s got to be motivated to set himself up for free agency so maybe they catch lightning in a bottle. If not, it’s only one year.
5 Stars Colin. Some don’t get it
Well then, if it’s that hard for KC to lure FA’s and they want a one year player, I’m sure they could work out a deal for Johan Santana too. They could send a bag of balls to NY and I’m sure Johan is motivated to set himself up for FA so maybe they catch lightning in a bottle there, if not, it’s only one year, and 24M.
I believe it’s more than about this one deal, but a series of deals we are going to see for the Royals. I’m inclined to feel that the Royals would love to see a winter where Santana enters the rotation as the #3 starter going into spring training. I wouldn’t rule out a major deal involving Wil Myers to go down.
Change of scenery? Both stadiums have a waterfall in the outfield where his pitches will land.
Brilliant, we picked up a minor league reliever and cash to throw at Greinke and didn’t have to pay Santana’s opt out fee. Well played DiPoto
They sent $1M to KC with Santana. That was his opt-out fee, so they essentially still paid it.
This is one of those trades I like to see…it seems to help both teams. KC gets a starter with upside, LAA gets some financial flexibility. Win-win. I hope it works out for both sides, but maybe just a little bit better for KC. ;)
good luck with that 12 mil/yr home run machine lol
You mean like Guthrie?
He almost always threw well against Detroit, so I’m glad he is going to a team that Detroit probably won’t face in the playoffs next season.
Ya I’d hate for the Tigers to have to choke against Santana just like they did against the whole Giants staff
Royals: always getting those “could be” players that never pan out
Interesting that the royals were willing to spend 12mm on a pitcher for one season. You have to wonder if this is the start of a series of movies to make that staff better. Perhaps guys like Sanchez could be in the mix. An interesting cash dump by the deep pocket Angels however.
Yea i would of paid a bit more for haren
I don’t like this move. There is not a lot of teams that would be willing to pay Ervin Santana 12 million. I would put his value somewhere between 6 and 8 million.
The sox will trade you Gavin Floyd for Mike Moustakas!
You can wish !!! Not a chance.
What this does say is that Kansas City has money to spend.
blowing 12mil on a ervin isnt the wisest of investments. he probably wouldve gone for 5-8 mil a year on the open market
Completely agree..but to be fair..he wasn’t going to go to KC for 5-8. My concern is that the Royal front office will cling too hard to their prospects and not deal for a front end starter. Santana needs to be a #3 starter. They can pile on as much offense as they wish…but the arms aren’t there in the system yet.
The Royals claim they can’t spend money…but spending $12 on a #3 starter indicates otherwise. Moore isn’t the most nuanced and subtle GM in the game…and this is likely the first of several moves they are going to try and make. It might sound illogical, but I really do see them making a move at David Price….or the like. I think we really will see them deal a major young prospect.
I like the move …. and it’s only a few days after the World Series, Give Dayton a chance …The best thing listed above is No Luke Hochevar listed in that 2013 rotation !!! :o)