The Giants are talking to Ervin Santana’s reps today at the winter meetings, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
The Giants were said to have Santana on their list as a fallback option if they could not land Jon Lester. Now that Lester has gone to the Cubs, the Giants are following through on their pursuit of Santana, who turns 32 on Friday. SF will also reportedly look at free agents Max Scherzer and James Shields and Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels as alternatives.
Santana, 31, enjoyed a solid season for Atlanta in which he posted a 3.95 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 42.7 percent ground-ball rate in 196 innings of work. While his ERA rose, metrics such as FIP (3.39) and xFIP (3.47) felt Santana had his best season since 2008.
