Ostensibly to replace Josh Naylor
The Guardians are signing Carlos Santana to a one-year deal to help replace Josh Naylor whom they traded earlier tonight:
Guardians and Carlos Santana agree on 1-year contract, pending physical.
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) December 21, 2024
Guardians fans know Santana well from his time with Cleveland 2010-2017 and then from 2019-2020 during which time he put up 21.5 fWAR with a 123 wRC+. Last year, as a 38 year-old, Santana played for the dastardly Twins and put up 3 fWAR, won a gold glove at first base and put up a 113 wRC+ (161 wRC+ vs LHP, 96 wRC+ vs RHP).
I look at these moves a couple ways: The Guardians noticed, as we all did, that Josh Naylor did not take care of himself as the season progressed last year. I don't condemn him for that; physical changes can happen for a host of reasons. But he very much appeared to be laboring post-All-Star Break. The Guardians think a 39 year-old is a better physical bet. They also are showing confidence in Kyle Manzardo, Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry as he returns from Tommy John.
Folks, not very many 39 year-olds are good at baseball. I certainly hope that one of my favorite Cleveland Baseball players of the past 15 years is one of those exceptions. But it is hard for me to imagine many Guardians rivals feeling like their lineup got more formidable today. Santana will walk and he will pull some fly balls. And he will play much better first base defense. ...I hope that's enough.
There are some things to like about Slade Cecconi which we will address in future articles... but he has yet to display those "things" in the bigs so it's another notable bet on the Guardians' pitching development group and scouting department. The robots say Cecconi should be a better pitcher than he has been, so it's time to see if they can bring that to fruition. They also now have four picks in the top 72 of next year's draft: Yippee-dang-skipee. I want to get Jose Ramirez and my 75 year-old Guardians' fan friend a World Series title, not win another draft.
MLB Trade Rumors reports that Santana will make essentially the same amount as Naylor in 2025, so there are no savings to reinvest here. Maybe the Guardians add a left-handed hitting right-fielder from somewhere. Maybe they use this comp pick to sign Nick Pivetta. Maybe they go get Erick Fedde. Or, maybe they are, again, betting on their ability to be smarter than the rest of baseball. If it's the latter... I hope they aren't flying too close to the sun on this one.
It's nice to have one more round with Santana, but I'm going to miss Josh Naylor and his hyping of his teammates and his fade-to-black home run celebrations. I always thought he'd be big in a playoff run for Cleveland before it was all said and done. It was so cool to see him playing here with his brother, and I wish him all the best with the Diamondbacks. Here's hoping the players on the team understand this move and don't feel like it's another move gutting the core of a team that made the 2024 ALCS.
