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Hector Santiago

Tigers Release Hector Santiago

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The Tigers announced that they have given left-hander Hector Santiago his unconditional release. Meanwhile, southpaw Tarik Skubal has been cleared to rejoin the Tigers’ 60-man player pool and been reassigned to their alternate training site, and righty Zack Hess has been removed from their player pool.

Santiago, 32, joined the Tigers on a minor league deal last offseason after mostly working as a reliever in 2019 and combining for 33 2/3 innings of 6.68 ERA/5.89 FIP ball with the White Sox and Mets. That continued a multiyear run of subpar production in the majors for Santiago, who served primarily as a starter earlier in his career and generated solid results for for the White Sox and Angels. During his peak from 2011-15, Santiago notched a 3.55 ERA/4.54 FIP with 8.25 K/9 and 4.00 BB/9 over 532 2/3 innings.

The Tigers didn’t say why they placed Skubal on the injured list when they made the move July 10. Regardless, it’s encouraging to see one of baseball’s top pitching prospects on his way back. The 23-year-old Skubal, who ranks as MLB.com’s 46th-best farmhand, was dominant in his first taste of Double-A action in 2019 with a 2.13 ERA/1.26 FIP and 17.43 K/9 against 3.63 BB/9 across 42 1/3 frames.

Filling Out The Tigers’ Starting Rotation

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UPDATE: Zimmermann has been placed on the 45-day injured list, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck and others (Twitter links). The Tigers aren’t ruling him out for the season yet.

TODAY: Jordan Zimmermann is dealing with the same sort of forearm soreness that sapped him of much of the 2019 season, per Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. If he can stay healthy – a big if – Zimmermann would look to make the most of a short season by proving his arm still plays at the major league level. This will be the final year of the five-year, $110MM pact he signed with the Tigers before the 2016 season.

It’s been a tough couple of years for Zimmermann, who will end his contract without ever making 30 starts in a season after doing so in each of his final four seasons with the Nationals. Despite the precipitous drop in performance, the Tigers were nonetheless turning to Zimmermann as a veteran stopgap in a rotation that will soon be overrun by high-upside prospects like Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning, Franklin Perez, Casey Mize, and Joey Wentz. The rotation is already without Daniel Norris, who has yet to pitch in camp after testing positive for coronavirus.

In the meantime, the Tigers are scrambling to fill out the rotation behind ace Matthew Boyd. Veteran Ivan Nova was brought in to soak up innings (34 starts, 187 innings in 2019), and Spencer Turnbull figures to slot in somewhere in the middle of the rotation after a mostly-strong showing in 2019. Turnbull went 3-17 last season with a 4.61 ERA/3.99 FIP. He’s done a nice job of limiting long balls throughout his two seasons in the majors, and if he can improve upon some control issues that led to an AL-high 16 hit batters and 3.6 BB/9, the Tigers hope Turnbull can level off his 4.76 career ERA and land closer to his 3.88 career FIP mark.

Beyond those three, the Tigers are working on extending the innings of Dario Agrazal, Shao-Ching Chiang, Hector Santiago, and Tyler Alexander to potentially fill out the rotation. Former Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer also has a chance to get some rotation innings, writes McCosky. Fulmer missed all of 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Of the youngsters in camp, Mize probably has the best shot of cracking the rotation. Under normal circumstances, Mize would be ticketed for Triple-A after 22 starts with a 2.55 ERA in Double-A last year, but without minor league games to further his development, count Mize among the many young stars with a slightly better chance of breaking into the big leagues sometime during the shortened 2020 season. Seven days on the taxi squad will be enough for the Tigers to secure an extra year of service time, notes McCosky, but manager Ron Gardenhire doesn’t plan on making any official decisions until knowing more about the health of Zimmermann and Norris.

Tigers Sign Hector Santiago

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The Tigers have announced a minor-league deal with lefty Hector Santiago. He’ll receive an invitation to participate in MLB Spring Training.

Santiago had some rather productive campaigns earlier in his career. But at 32 years of age, he has settled into the existence of a journeying southpaw swingman.

Over the past three years, Santiago has transitioned from membership in a 5-man rotation to long relief duties. He carries only a 5.20 ERA in the 206 innings he has thrown during that span. Santiago has struck out 8.5 batters per nine over that time but has also handed out excessive numbers of walks (4.9 per nine) and home runs (1.7).

It’s tough to imagine Santiago having much of a shot at the Detroit rotation in camp. But he could challenge for a bullpen role or otherwise slot into the Triple-A staff to provide depth.

White Sox Purchase Contract Of Hector Santiago

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The White Sox announced today that they have purchased the contract of lefty Hector Santiago. He’ll take the 40-man spot of fellow southpaw swingman Manny Banuelos, who was moved to the 60-day IL to make way.

In other news, backstop Welington Castillo was reinstated from the family medical emergency leave list. He’ll technically serve as the 26th man in today’s doubleheader, meaning that the team will have to make a further active roster move thereafter.

Santiago, 31, is in his third stint with the Chicago organization. He opened his career on the South Side and also pitched there last year. Santiago struggled in a brief MLB stint earlier this year with the Mets. In eighty total frames at Triple-A in 2019, he carries a 4.50 ERA with 71 strikeouts and 32 walks.

White Sox Sign Hector Santiago

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The White Sox have signed left-hander Hector Santiago to a minor league contract, according to Roster Roundup. Santiago was most recently with the Mets, who designated him for assignment last Friday.

This will be the third White Sox tour for Santiago, whom the team selected in the 30th round of the 2006 draft. Santiago wound up pitching with the White Sox from 2011-13, during which he notched a 3.41 ERA/4.49 FIP in 224 2/3 innings.

Chicago dealt Santiago to the Angels in a noteworthy three-team trade heading into the 2014 campaign. After stints with the Halos and Twins, Santiago returned to the Sox on a minors deal in February 2018. He went on to throw 102 innings (49 appearances, seven starts) of 4.41 ERA/5.09 FIP ball with 9.09 K/9 and 5.29 BB/9 at the big league level last season.

Now, Santiago will once again try to turn a minors pact with the White Sox into a major league opportunity. He’ll have to perform better than he did as a Met, though. While Santiago did log a 3.35 ERA over 43 innings with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate this year, his run prevention success came with far less encouraging peripherals. The 31-year-old then fell flat over eight innings with New York, where he gave up six earned runs on 10 hits and five walks (with six strikeouts).

Mets Designate Hector Santiago

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The Mets have designated left-hander Hector Santiago for assignment, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets.

A former starter for the White Sox, Angels and Twins, the 31-year-old Santiago joined the Mets on a minor league deal over the winter. Santiago didn’t crack the Mets’ roster at first, instead opening the year at the Triple-A level. He logged a 3.35 ERA/4.94 FIP with 7.95 K/9 and 4.81 BB/9 in 43 innings as a member of New York’s top affiliate before the club summoned him to the majors in late May.

While Santiago has worked as a starter in the minors this season, he functioned exclusively as a reliever with the Mets before they cut him from their 40-man. In eight innings, Santiago allowed six earned runs on 10 hits and five walks (against six strikeouts). Santiago could end up heading back to Syracuse next, though he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment to the minors if he wants.

Mets Place Seth Lugo On Injured List, Select Hector Santiago

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The Mets announced that they’ve placed right-hander Seth Lugo on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder and selected the contract of southpaw Hector Santiago to take his spot on the active roster. They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move, although that could be accomplished by simply shifting Jed Lowrie from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list, as Lowrie has already missed nearly a full 60 days.

There’s no timetable for how long Lugo is expected to miss. The right-hander himself told reporters that the plan is to rest for a few days, adding that he’s hopeful this can be a relatively short absence (Twitter link, with video, via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The discomfort in his shoulder began in his most recent outing and is only something he feels when pitching, per Lugo.

It’ll be another hit to the Mets’ pitching staff, as Lugo has arguably been their best setup reliever, pitching to a 3.12 ERA with 11.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 1.04 HR/9 and a 43.9 percent ground-ball rate in 26 innings so far in 2019. Only fellow righty Robert Gsellman, the team’s other top setup option, has logged more innings (27 1/3) out of the bullpen so far.

Meanwhile, free-agent signee Jeurys Familia, brought back to solidify the team’s late-inning mix, has struggled and already spent a bit of time on the IL himself. With Lugo sidelined for at least 10 days, Familia will have to take on a larger role. To his credit, however, Familia has tossed a pair of shutout innings since returning from that short stay on the injured list.

As for Santiago, he’ll join the club after logging a 3.35 ERA in 43 innings of Triple-A ball (seven starts, one relief outing). Solid as that number appears, Santiago is toting an unsightly 38-to-23 K/BB ratio in that time and has benefited from a .235 average on balls in play while pitching for Syracuse. Santiago struggled with similar control issues for the White Sox last year when he averaged 5.3 BB/9 over 102 innings, en route to a 4.41 ERA.

Although Santiago has been starting in the minors, he won’t get the ball for tonight’s game. That nod will go to Wilmer Font, the team announced an hour ago. The Mets had originally indicated that Drew Gagnon would start tonight, but they announced earlier this morning that Gagnon wouldn’t take the ball to open the game after all.

Mets Assign Six NRI Veterans To Minor League Camp

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The Mets have cut several veterans at Spring Training on minor league contracts from their Major League camp.  Carlos Gomez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Rajai Davis, Hector Santiago, Ryan O’Rourke, and Devin Mesoraco are the non-roster invitees who have all been told they aren’t making the Opening Day roster.  (Tim Healey of Newsday was one of several reporters who passed on the news.)  Of note, Mesoraco didn’t have an opt-out clause in his contract, though the Mets said that the catcher is “reassessing his situation” with the organization.

Mesoraco, Hechavarria, and Davis each had upward mobility clauses in their contracts that went into effect last Wednesday, though there hasn’t been any word on whether any other teams had interest in any of the trio.  This doesn’t appear to have been the case for Mesoraco, as Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that Mesoraco has informed the Mets that he won’t go to Triple-A, and wants to be released.  Mesoraco is even prepared to retire if he isn’t granted his release, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter).

Mesoraco’s situation is perhaps the most surprising, as indications were that he would serve as the backup catcher, since Travis d’Arnaud is likely to begin the season on the injured list.  This could mean that a change in d’Arnaud’s status, or that the Mets would simply instead prefer to use another internal candidate in Tomas Nido as Wilson Ramos’ backup.

The Mets’ outfield situation was already pretty crowded, so Gomez and Davis faced something of an uphill battle in winning jobs.  Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto have everyday jobs spoken for, while Jeff McNeil will get at least a share of the left field playing time, with Keon Broxton and Juan Lagares serving as backup outfielders.

O’Rourke pitched quite well in camp while Santiago struggled, though in the end, the Mets chose to take neither left-hander on their Opening Day roster.  This will leave Justin Wilson and Luis Avilan (another minor league signing who is likely to make the team) as the southpaw options out of New York’s bullpen.

The Hechavarria news bodes well for Luis Guillorme’s chances of winning the utility infield job.  McNeil will also see some time in the infield mix when he isn’t playing left field, and J.D. Davis looks to be the team’s top option at third base for the time being.  Of course, the Mets’ infield situation will be in flux once Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie are healthy.

NL East Notes: Phillies’ Outfield, Mets’ Bullpen, Solis, Lopez

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Offseason additions of Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen have left the Phillies with an overcrowded outfield mix that will likely lead to some roster shuffling. As The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro examines at length (subscription required), the Phils now have five outfielders — Odubel Herrera, Roman Quinn, Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr and Dylan Cozens — all on the 40-man roster beyond their two big-name pickups. Both Herrera and Quinn are currently nursing minor injuries, but they’re also the two most logical options for center field. Williams, meanwhile, isn’t viewed as an option in center, per manager Gabe Kapler, which severely clouds his future with the team. Williams does have minor league options remaining, but he could also hold appeal as a trade asset marketed to other clubs in search of outfield help. (The same could be true of Herrera, but he’s owed $24.5MM through 2021 and had a down season in 2018.) Of the Phillies’ current outfielders, both Altherr and Quinn are out of minor league options, which only enhances the likelihood of some roster moves in the next couple of weeks.

Elsewhere in the division…

  • Because of the numerous off-days baked into the early-season schedule, the Mets are likelier to open the season with seven relievers than they are with eight, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo are locks to hold down five of those spots, and Puma adds that non-roster lefties Luis Avilan and Hector Santiago are strong candidates to claim the other two slots. Both veterans signed minor league contracts with invites to Spring Training, and both have thrown quite well to open camp. That’d give manager Mickey Callaway three lefties to utilize out of the ’pen early in the season, although it wouldn’t leave the team with too much in the way of roster flexibility. With so many veteran relievers on board, the only three pitchers of that bunch who could technically be optioned to the minors would be Lugo, Gsellman and Diaz — none of whom would figure to be sent down to the minors at any point. If the Mets do eventually shift to carrying eight relievers, they’d be able to use that final ’pen slot to shuffle some fresh arms back and forth between the Majors and Triple-A Syracuse.
  • Left-hander Sammy Solis was caught “completely off guard” by the Nationals’ decision to release him, the pitcher tells Richard Justice of MLB.com. Solid seemingly took the abrupt and unexpected news in good stride, thanking the organization and expressing some disappointment over having to say goodbye to longtime teammates. As manager Dave Martinez explains, the move was made with an eye toward giving Solis a chance to find another organization before the season begins. “For me, it was more about giving Sammy an opportunity to latch on with another team and get a chance to have that Spring Training elsewhere,” said Martinez. The Nats also shed $713K in salary with the move, which surely played a factor as well. The 30-year-old Solid has had a pair of unsightly seasons over the past two years, including a 2017 campaign that was shortened by elbow troubles. He maintains that he’s healthy now, though, and one would imagine that a lefty who averaged nearly 94 mph on his fastball to go along with a 12.9 percent swinging-strike rate in 2018 will garner interest — even if only on a minor league contract.
  • Right-hander Pablo Lopez is making a strong case to open the season in the Marlins’ rotation, but manager Don Mattingly said this weekend that no decisions have been made as to who’ll round out the rotation behind Jose Urena and Dan Straily, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Lopez tossed four perfect innings and picked up four punchouts in his most recent outing against a Nationals lineup featuring many regulars. He’s now allowed just one run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in nine spring frames. Wei-Yin Chen’s contract — he’s owed $42MM over the next two seasons — makes him a likely candidate to get a long look, while other rotation hopefuls include Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Richards and southpaw Caleb Smith.

Mets, Hector Santiago Agree To Minor League Deal

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Jan. 7: Santiago’s deal comes with a $2MM base salary in the Majors and allows him to earn an extra $100K for every fifth start up through 25 total starts, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The contract contains an out clause that stipulates the Mets will release Santiago on July 31 if he’s not on the MLB roster and if another club is willing to put him on its 25-man roster.

Jan. 5: The Mets have reportedly picked up some rotation and bullpen depth, adding veteran left-hander Hector Santiago on a minor league deal. He’ll head to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Santiago is repped by Excel Sports.

Santiago, 31, appeared in 49 games (7 starts) for the White Sox last season, pitching to a sub-replacement-level 4.41 ERA/5.09 FIP/5.38 xFIP in 102 IP. The journeyman lefty apparently brought back one of the league’s only screwballs last season – which he featured regularly in his first stint on the Southside – in an effort to rejuvenate a floundering career. He was, yet again, quite homer-prone, surrendering 1.41 big flies per nine, a mark just slightly above his career average of 1.37 HR/9 a season.

The lefty has shown occasional aptitude for the strikeout over the course of his career, but it’s too often been offset by command issues – Santiago walked 5.29 men per nine last season, and has yet to finish a single big-league campaign with a total under 3.5 BB/9 in that category. He’ll look to compete for the 5th-starter role in the Mets’ rotation, currently occupied by Jason Vargas, with Seth Lugo, Corey Oswalt, and others – P.J. Conlon, Drew Gagnon, Chris Flexen, and more – also in the mix.

In 887 career MLB innings pitched with the ChiSox, Angels, and Twins, Santiago sports a career 4.05 ERA/4.88 FIP/5.05 xFIP.  The lefty, it should be noted, is one of the rare pitchers to outperform his fielding-independent marks in every career season, owing in large part to his stellar 77% career strand rate.

Rich Mancuso first reported that the Mets and Santiago had a deal (Twitter link), and SNY’s Andy Martino clarified that it was a minor league pact (Twitter link).

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