The Indians have been active in extension talks of late, reaching multi-year agreements with infielder Jose Ramirez (five years, $26MM) and catcher Roberto Perez (four years, $9MM) in addition to making an effort to hammer out a deal with star shortstop Francisco Lindor. They may not be done just yet, either, as Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the Indians will explore an extension with first baseman/designated hitter Carlos Santana in attempt to prevent him from reaching free agency following the 2017 season.
Santana, 31 this weekend, has long been one of the most productive and durable hitters in the Cleveland lineup. Dating back to the 2011 campaign, he’s been on the disabled list just once: an 11-day absence on the 7-day DL in 2014 due to concussion symptoms. Since Opening Day 2011, Santana has averaged 153 games and 654 plate appearances per season. In that time, his bat has been above the league average in each year, and his collective .247/.363/.443 batting line in that time has translated to a 121 OPS+ and a 124 wRC+ (meaning, essentially, that he’s been 21 percent to 24 percent better than the league-average hitter after accounting for league and park).
While Santana was a catcher for much of his early career and had a brief experiment as a third baseman in 2014, he’s largely limited to first base and designated hitter duties at this stage of his career. He played only those two positions during the regular season in 2015-16 (plus two left field appearances in the World Series), and it doesn’t seem especially likely that a team would feel comfortable playing him elsewhere with any sort of regularity.
It’s certainly possible to envision Santana preferring to remain with the only team he’s ever known and one that looks to be very well-positioned for the near future. However, a significant discount on an extension may not be likely with free agency just six months away. His initial contract — a five-year, $21MM extension — already looks to be a feather in Cleveland’s cap, after all, even with his 2017 option elevating his total earnings to $31.8MM over six years.
Then again, Santana will hit the open market heading into his age-32 season and with the memory of a free-agent market that was not kind to defensively limited sluggers fresh in his mind. From my vantage point, he’s a definite qualifying offer candidate at season’s end, which wouldn’t do any favors for his market. (Although Santana may not face the same hurdles as others have in recent years now that the new collective bargaining agreement has lowered the penalty for signing a player that rejected a QO.)
Cleveland entered the 2017 season with a club-record $128MM payroll, but the Indians only have about $77MM committed to the 2018 payroll. That sum could rise depending on the fate of outfielder Michael Brantley ($11MM club option), left-hander Boone Logan ($7MM club option) and Josh Tomlin ($3MM club option). There will also be arbitration raises on the horizon for Cody Allen, Danny Salazar, Trevor Bauer, Lonnie Chisenhall, Zach McAllister and Dan Otero, further complicating the financial outlook. That said, if ownership is comfortable with a payroll in this range once again in 2018, the Indians could probably fit a Santana extension into the payroll — especially were it to be backloaded in nature.
He might take it too the way things went in free agency last off season
please make it happen
Also hoping they re-sign him and he sticks around a few more years.
Yes. At least until Bobby Bradley is ready for the majors, if for no other reason than Encarnación’s defense (which does not draw rave reviews).
So you don’t remember Santana playing LF during the World Series?
Not quite sure what your point is. He played in Left Field for 12 innings and didn’t make a single error.
There’s not enough data to credit or discredit him
No point. My comment was in response to the line in the article that says…..”He played only those two positions in 2015 and 2016″…..as in catcher and first base.
Is that okay with you?
Before you decide to talk down to other fans, make sure you read the entire paragraph. Steve was clearly talking about First Base and Designated Hitter, not catcher. Santana hasn’t played behind home plate since 2014.
It’s also clear Steve was referring to the positions Santana played in the regular season for 2015
So…….what say you about the FACT he played left field?
I double-checked his regular season defensive log — not his postseason. The point remains the same: a team’s not going to play him at third, catcher or in the outfield on any type of regular basis. Wherever he signs, it’ll be as a 1B/DH.
But, yes, I did omit the left field appearance, which I’ve added to the post. I’m not sure exactly why that elicits such a sour tone from you, but hey, to each his own. Cheers.
Oh, I don’t have a sour tone about it, or with you. Was just trying to make something known. Plus, add in that Chewy has said he’s gonna play him in RF this year, and his “value” in the field is expanding.
Now, when it comes to another particular poster and sour tones………
Literally every other person who has commented on this conversation has agreed that you’re the poster with the problem.
It’s just really sad how oblivious some people can be. I’m going to stop replying on this post because frankly, there isn’t much point.
You should spend some time examining your attitude though.
See ya
Ooh, okay—-you win! Happy?
And this season it will be RF, actually this weekend. I have no problems with a team player grabbing a mitt and offering to play anywhere just to contribute whether it’s C, 3B, 1B, LF or now RF. I hope they keep him around, this team really has a good chemistry and some nice interchangeable pieces.
Why did I think he had a ton of DL time? I guess I didn’t realize he had played so much.
The only year he missed a significant amount of time was 2010, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury not long after he made his MLB debut.
Santana has also finished the last 6 seasons (2011-2016) with over 90 walks each time (One time he even led the league). He’s got great plate discipline in addition to hitting prowess
They tried him at 3B for a bit in ST a few years ago too. Although he is limited, at least he’s proven to be willing to play anywhere. I still think the Indians should go after a younger 1B option.
I don’t think that was “clear” at all.
The statement is that the team only feels comfortable with him playing 1B and DH. And that’s not true, he played LF in the world series, and is set to play RF this weekend… plus we’re not too far removed from experimenting with him at 3B