The Rangers announced they’ve traded reliever Dennis Santana to the Braves in exchange for cash considerations. Atlanta designated Jackson Stephens for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move.
Santana soaked up plenty 0f middle relief innings in Arlington, pitching 58 2/3 frames across 63 outings. He generally struggled over that stretch, posting a 5.22 ERA with a below-average 21.2% strikeout percentage and an elevated 11% walk rate. The right-hander has posted subpar strikeout and walk marks throughout his parts of five seasons in the majors with the Dodgers and Rangers, contributing to a career 5.12 ERA over 139 innings.
The 26-year-old has flashed some interesting traits that suggest he could yet be a productive MLB bullpen arm. He’s gotten swinging strikes between 11% and 12% of his total offerings the past couple seasons, a solid enough rate. Santana has also induced ground-balls on almost half the batted balls against him the last couple years, and his sinker sat just under 97 MPH this past season. He had some success against left and right-handed hitters alike, but he was victimized by an extremely low strand rate that’s likely to bounce back moving forward.
Santana is out of minor league option years, so he’ll have to break camp on the Atlanta roster or be made available to other teams. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to receive a $1.1MM salary if tendered an arbitration contract, and the Braves’ acquisition suggests they could be prepared to do so this week. That’d figure to give him an inside shot at securing a middle relief role out of Spring Training.
Stephens inked a minor league deal with Atlanta over the offseason. He cracked the big league roster a few days into the year and wound up tallying 53 2/3 innings across 39 outings. The 28-year-old had a solid 3.69 ERA with a decent 46.3% grounder percentage but a 20% strikeout rate. Stephens’ swing-and-miss rate also sat at a subpar 9.3%, and the Braves have elected to roll the dice on Santana’s upside in swapping out potential middle innings arms.
Atlanta will have a week to deal Stephens or run him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, he’d have the right to become a minor league free agent.
Why
Because he has the potential to pitch to a much better era.
Don’t understand this one.
Maybe in 2023 you will.
This guy was looking like the Dodgers new closer at one point…..at one point..
Was a non-tender candidate for the Rangers prior to Friday’s deadline. Mostly a buy-low pickup
I do not approve of this move
Why
I get why Santana: 97 mph sinker (probably a filthy spin rate to boot?)
DFAing Stephens to accommodate Santana trade, I don’t get.
Why designate someone useful like Stephens?
You want Stephens pitching in post season? They know what the have in him. They haven’t had a chance to work with Santana. Santana has potential to be better. As good as Braves management has been it’s surprising fans are still questioning their decisions as often as they are.
Not a big Stephens guy, but cutting him for Santana? Harsh.
Potential High end arm like Santana good pick up. Stephens had the fastball but most of his success was in mop up opportunities. Lots of those guys around. Just and old fashion bullpen shuffle
Why? Why? Why?
I certainly didn’t expect Stephens to make it through the winter on the Braves 40 man roster, but why go out an get this guy?
This guy could be better. If he isn’t they will exchange him for someone else in March.
Because the Rangers are so flush with pitching?
Because the Rangers are freeing up a 40- man roster spot
We need quality pitching. Not a dude that’s gonna give up 2-3 runs an inning at least couple times a week
He was great the first 3-4 months
Rangers wayyyy over used him and he faltered down the stretch.
Why? This is dumb. Stephens was actually good this year, Santana has never been good. And his underlying #’s don’t really suggest he’ll ever be good. Puzzling move for sure
yeah, what a stupid team!
You aren’t looking at the right numbers or don’t know what to look for.
Ok genius … you could have simply provided actual evidence instead of being an a**
Why would I provide evidence to a false statement? “his underlying #’s don’t really suggest he’ll ever be good.” They are better than the Stephens. You are the a** pretending like you are a pitching expert and getting angry when you get called out for it. I was being nice saying “You aren’t looking at the right numbers” I knew that it was the 2nd one. I will give you credit. Most people would go with ‘oh yeah I had the wrong player, my bad. Yeah Daniels could be a good get.”
His #’s merely suggest he could be better than he currently is, which is terrible and a low bar. Lol but they don’t suggest he will be good. That’s not remotely a false statement and in fact, very much true. I personally, like having the cheap guy that has already proven he can get the job done to some degree in the majors. And if stephens proves he can’t maintain, which I acknowledge is a real thing with him, then cut him. But I don’t understand sending cash over to the rangers for a guy who hasn’t come close to showing any potential when it mattered. Id argue he should have been included in the Odorizzi deal or in place of Allard, but I’d still hold on to stephens before Santana … one has shown more than they other when it mattered, albeit a low bar for both
These moves make no sense for the Braves.
Braves believe they make sense.
As a Rangers fan, I have no idea why the Braves did this. I cringed every time Santana came in for the Rangers
This is a move that a scout made for them. Stephens was decent, but doesn’t get much swing-and-miss. I’d imagine they think he’s hit his ceiling, while Santana has a lot of raw stuff they like, and with some work, could be better than Stephens.
Personally, I thought Stephens was one of the worst RP in the bullpen and thought he benefitted from a good defense, especially at the end of games after they’ve made their def subs.
Spot on DMC. Delighted not to see Stephens anymore. Cringed w/every pitch he threw.
I only liked Stephens for nostalgia, reminded me of former closer: Bob Wickman. Don’t make ’em like they used to. One thing I noticed about Santana was he had an abysmal strand rate, which RP (and all pitchers, really) like and die by. If Ian Anderson didn’t have a great strand rate after he inevitably walks the first batter, he would have been in the minors months before he actually got there.
Very spot on. I was rooting for Stephens every time he came in, but generally he had to labor through almost every inning and that may have been his ceiling. Santana has shown the ability to be better, even though last season he wasn’t.
My only concern with this is that you didn’t have to spend money. Quite frankly, there will be a couple dozen Santana-like players available once 40-man clearing gets going in earnest. And if not, then promote from within as the Braves have plenty of arms in the minors that could get enough innings in middle relief to build some confidence without side-tracking their development.
Not sure why the Braves would make this move, but from the Rangers’ standpoint, I’m guessing it’s all about freeing up a spot on the 40-man roster?
Absolutely
You should look at Santana’s stats in April, May, and June. Then, compare that to the rest of the year. Chris Woodward brutally over-used Santana the last couple of the weeks prior to the All-star break pitching him multiple innings over multiple days in a row. Of course, he was one of the only effective relievers out of the Rangers pen during that time, so I kinda understand why Woodward kept calling his number. He just wasn’t the same pitcher after that stretch. In fact, I felt like the Rangers should have kept Santana over Sborz, Snyder, etc. today.
What did you think of the usage of Brock Burke? When he first started out, I couldn’t figure out how anyone was hitting him. He finished with great numbers, though his FiP is quite a bit larger than his ERA, meaning he was lucky.
Santana has slightly better metrics(FB spin rate, BB rate, K rate, etc) across the board than Jackson. Basically the same pitcher…but slightly better. By the 40 man roster deadline, AA quietly moved another mil or two off the books.
I like it. He is a talented pitcher who has good stuff. Maybe a change of scenery, new coaches, pitching staff and catchers can help hone his craft. Tyler Matzek was once one these types of guys. We have a strong bullpen to take a shot and risk losing Jackson. Stephens.
Adding an arm the Braves feel can benefit them someone in the organization sees something in that young man. Jackson well I would think the Braves feel they can get him through waivers and then sign him to a deal similar to what they did with Chavez make X if you are on MLB roster and X if in minors to keep him.
For those of you guys asking why Jackson Stephens got DA’d for Santanna, as a Mets fan, Stephens would get completely shelled whenever he went out there vs any good team or high leverage situation. He also is a major league pitcher that is clearly not in 100% game shape. Needs to really lose some weight. Everytime he pitched vs the Mets it felt like the Mets got 3-4 runs off him. It goes to show that just looking at the “stats” don’t paint the full pitcher. The same could be said about Drew Smith on the Mets. Very similar where their stats look nice but in reality they are basically meaningless