The Twins announced today that right-hander Ervin Santana underwent a “capsular release/debridement procedure” on the middle finger of his right hand. He’s expected to be ready for a return to game activity in 10 to 12 weeks, according to the announcement.
Santana, according to the Twins, began experiencing discomfort in his right hand after ramping up bullpen work in preparation for Spring Training. The issue is something he’s dealt with in the past and had reviewed following the 2017 season, per the announcement, at which point an MRI and x-rays revealed that his tendon was intact, prompting doctors to recommend an injection. The injury is a “result of repeated cumulative stress from pitching, not one acute event, and did not present again until this past week,” the team further detailed.
Certainly, the news comes as a blow to a Twins team that has aspirations of contending for its first American League Central title since 2010. The 35-year-old Santana has been among the game’s most durable arms over the past decade and has been the Twins’ most consistent starter over the past two seasons. He’ll now be sidelined until anywhere from mid-April to early May as he recovers from this procedure. With him on the shelf to open the season, an already murky Twins rotation now figures to include Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson and Adalberto Mejia, with several other names vying for starting opportunities as well.
Of course, the Twins have been prominently linked to the top name on the free agent market, Yu Darvish, with varying ties to the other top three starters: Jake Arrieta, Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn. Minnesota has reportedly been among the most aggressive teams on the Darvish front anyhow, and the loss of Santana even for only a month should only hasten their pursuit of rotation help (be it Darvish, a different free agent or a trade acquisition).
From a contractual standpoint, the injury to Santana is not without repercussions. Santana’s four-year, $55MM contract with the Twins comes with a $14MM club option for the 2019 campaign that would have automatically vested had he reached 200 innings this season. While that’s certainly still possible, especially if Santana’s return comes on the shorter end of the 10- to 12-week timeline, missing even a handful of starts at the beginning of the year makes that goal considerably tougher to achieve. Santana made 33 starts last year and totaled 211 1/3 innings — the second-highest total in MLB — but even missing two to three starts would have left him a bit shy of that mark.
Depending on how well Santana pitches, the Twins could well still exercise their end of that option, though it now seems likely to be entirely the team’s decision as opposed to a salary that Santana could lock in via the strength of his own performance.
Can you say Darvish?
I’d say no. They be paying 2 guys and only getting one guy? Just don’t know if they can afford
they can afford darvish
Even if they can afford Darvish, I think Darvish only wants to sign with top tier teams at this point (not saying the twins aren’t good) but I think he would have already signed with the twins by now. I think they sign Lance Lynn.
Many reports have suggested that Darvish was waiting on his former teams, the Rangers and Dodgers, to make a play for his services. That seems even more remote as spring training beckons. Even if an injury occurs to one of those teams starters early on in camp they would still face problems in relationship to their desired 2018 payroll obligations, particularly the Dodgers in regards to the luxury tax.
Insurance policy covers this stuff
Insurance policy covers like 40-80% of injury costs. If it’s even 5 starts the twins save maybe $1M
Insurance policy doesn’t pitch opening day unfortunately.
Depends on insurance. Some plans, I know, will not cover it if the player is out a short amount of time.
I would think insurance pays more than that. Can you quote a source for your information? Thanks.
they can afford
Nope – LOL
GO Cubs!
Makes it even more likely that they match with one of Darvish, Arrieta, Cobb, or Lynn.
And this is where the ice not only cracks, but it completely disappears.
Alright Twins, you sign Darvish and we’ll sign Cobb. Lets heat this stove up.
I’d say catching is our biggest concern man lol
And the catchers still on the market are even less inspiring than some of the pitchers on the free agent market. Maxwell will (probably) be back eventually and Phegley can easily play better than he did last season. Much better options than overpaying for a declining catcher.
A veteran starting pitcher that could lead a young rotation was one of the team’s not so immediate concerns. Cobb might be the guy.
you’re not wrong lol
I would much rather have Vargas
Why? He’s not that good. He had a good first half then fell apart. He’s 35 years old, and while he’d be cheap we don’t need a warm body. If the A’s sign a free agent starting pitcher at all it’ll be a guy that can give you quality innings and lead that rotation until the Puk’s and Kaprielian’s are up. If not we’re better off throwing out a young pitcher that at least has some upside.
you said the key word…cheap lol Cobb will be pursued at a high price once big names are off the list, and I see Oakland landing Vargas on a bargain price. That’s just me, and still upsetting that Maxwell could possibly walk away with a slap on the wrist for his charges. I liked the guy ,and still think he has a solid upside. I just think he has some issues to settle before having him in a starting role.
That’s not a good enough reason to go after a 35 year old who fell apart during the second half of last season. Like I said, we don’t just need a warm body, we need quality innings. We’re better off letting the young kids pitch than signing a guy like Vargas.
I would think the Twins would have an interest in Andrew Triggs. If that’s the case, Mitch Garver would be an awesome pickup.
I’d propose –
A’s get : Garver and Littell
Twins get : Triggs, Hendriks and Phegley.
Not a bad idea but don’t think the Twins would want Hendriks to add to an already cluttered pen
This figures to be good news for the top-4 free agent starting pitchers who remained unsigned, particularly Yu Darvish who has seemingly been linked to the Twins more than any other contender this offseason. Between the Twins, Brewers and Cubs perhaps something will give on the Darvish front which could then get the market moving on the other three starters.
While this does suck. He should only be missing 2-4 starts. Not enough to push the panic button / push the needle on a starting pitching overpay.
In a vacuum, yes, but he’d have to ramp up his arm with like his own spring training of sorts. He wouldn’t just go from surgery to starting games and going 7 innings. I’d say a more conservative timeline would be late May/ early June.
Unless you want him to immediately blow his arm out. That sounds like not a lot of fun.
Generally the time tables given (10-12 weeks in this case) include those type of things. That’s usually why it’s phrased out 10-12 weeks, not 10-12 weeks plus rehab.
That’s true.
Usually the splint on his finger isn’t even removed for 10-12 weeks, so if you expect him to go from splint to starting games then I have some magic beans to sell you, friend…
Because the Twins have a great rotation as is? Along with the Brewers, they have arguably the weakest starting five among the perceived contenders heading into the 2018 season. That alone should get the Twins to “push the panic button” while their salary obligations should also be able to accomodate any “overpay” that might occur.
The Twins are gonna mess around and miss out on all the free agents
Twins are interesting. They have some nice young position players. But their rotation makes it seem unlikely they repeat their success of last year. Anybody who is more familiar with the twins care to fill me in a bit?
With the current rotation(which would include Santana) my guess is similar results. Maybe a tad better given the revamped bullpen and the kids having a little more experience. They absolutely need a top of the rotation arm. Darvish seems to be the best fit as a player. Maybe have to over pay by their standards for him but they have money to spend with no real limitations. They aren’t the frugal Carl Pohlad ran Twins stuck in the humpty dome anymore. Ownership has repeatedly said they will spend money if it makes sense. The offense has the potential to be potent and are explosive at times. Even Mauer has resurged to near his former self. The outfield is about as good or better than the “Soul Patrol” of the early 2000’s. Berrios has the upside to be great and adding another quality starter should only help him develop. So they are indeed interesting and a TOR arm should make a huge difference.
The ONLY limitations the Twins have is ownership.
I’d say it’s a big hit, even though it might only effect 5 games or so. The rotation with Santana was bottom 10. He’s the anchor. He’s the only one who’s been capable of going deep into games consistently so this will hurt the bullpen too, even though that’s been upgraded.
They already needed a Darvish badly before this. Now it’s amplified even more. That being said, I still see them winning over 80 games. The defense is still there. The bullpen is improved. And three teams in division are supposed to be bad, though anything can happen in baseball.
Remember, they play a disproportionate amount of games against the White Sox, Tigers and Royals though
So while yes, their pitching will be a hindrance, the specific division is also primed to help them float at or near the top of Second Wild Card Lake baring some really bad luck
Twins should make the exact same offer to Lynn AND Cobb. Maybe 4yr/$65mil with a mutual option in the 5th yr. Get em both on board.
The Twins aren’t going to contend this season regardless. Certainly they aren’t hanging their entire season on one 35 year old SP Ervin Santana and a 40 year old CL Fernando Rodney. Other than Addison Reed, they have NO pitching.
There is only one team to beat in the Central, and thats the Indians. On paper, they have a few question marks, too. They lost Santana plus a bit of their bullpen. I would put the Twins in the two spot currently, and they may be hungrier.
Please Twins, sign Arrieta.
First Sano and now Santana. This looks like a lost year for the Twins. Maybe they’re sellers midseason.
If Berios is good he could bring back the haul that Tampa wants for Chris Archer.
I am not aware of Sano missing time. There was an accusation, but I must have missed the guilty plea, or is the accusation by itself all thats needed now?
Sano has surgery on his leg early in the offseason. Sounds like he isn’t expected to be ready for the start of the year.
What’s wrong with Sano? He did have that accusation, but MLB hasn’t talked about a suspension for him. Plus, Santana isn’t going to be out all season. He’ll likely miss most of April, but he’ll be back by early May at the soonest. Anyway, they’ll likely add at least one starter, possibly two before the end of the off-season. No real reason they shouldn’t be in WC contention.
What’s wrong wtih Sano? He is almost certainly going to be suspended for weeks if not months.
Why would he be suspended weeks to months if there’s no evidence of this allegation?
Evidence is for courts. Stay tuned. It was written about when the news came out. The accusing woman is going to meet (or has met) with MBL officials. My God, there were like 700 comments on that one. Let’s not stir this up again.
Complete over-exaggeration. I definitely can see them stumbling out of the gate and having trouble recovering, but silly to say this is now a lost season. The Berrios for Archer is extremely flawed in its logic. If Berrios is good why would they trade him for Archer? In that scenario isn’t it a much better value to hold onto Berrios? And if they are sellers, wouldn’t they be selling for a ton of future assets?
Santana or not, the team will not make a postseason appearance. They overachieved last year.
Who exactly over achieved?
The Twins in general. They came off 2016 where they lost 103 games, to the next year where they were the second wild card spot. Buxton steeped up his production, Mauer had a nice bounce-back year, Sano broke-out, Dozier continued doing his thing, and the pitching took a step up as well.
But 2015, they missed playoffs by only a few games. If anything 2016 looks like an outlier. There are too many teams tanking this year. The AL central will come down to division play. If the twins manage to stomp Cleveland a few time they can take it. If they even play 500 ball against em it might be tough.
Yanks, Sox, Rays, Indians, Astros, Angels, Mariners, and Rangers are all better than the Twins.
Rays, Mariners, Rangers all got some work to do. Put Twins in that coin flip!
Disagree, just because the AL central has three teams that will absolutely suck.
And the price of (FA SP) poker just went up!
“Wow now the twins will sign a $150M contract as a reactionary response to a finger injury.”
Come on people. Maybe they bump up their existing offer a little bit, but I doubt they’re blowing the clear front runner away for darvish.
I still think they’ll be in for Darvish, but maybe they’ll start looking back around at Archer. Maybe they could even start up talks for Fulmer, but I really don’t see that happening. It would be nice to see a syndergaard or DeGrom come up in talks, but the Mets are always under the delusion they can compete… Im sure all they need is David Wright to be healthy. They’ll lose all their pitching talent to free agency.
Darvish has been hoping someone would give him 6 years. This might push the Twins to do it.
I’d like to see 5 with an option at most for him in MN vs 6 straight out but who knows
Yeah… so eat the cost and grab Darvish. Otherwise contention is no where possible.
Why didn’t they do this surgery in November?