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First baseman Carlos Santana and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in settlement on a one-year, $6.7 million contract, pending the outcomes of a bodily, sources aware of the deal informed ESPN.
Santana, 36, completed with a league-average OPS final yr, hitting .202/.316/.376 between stints with the Seattle Mariners and Kansas Metropolis Royals. However his anticipated numbers, primarily based on how laborious he hit the ball (an 81st-percentile exit velocity) and his elite stroll charge (97th percentile), projected much better outcomes, one thing that drove his market.
Additional, no one was shifted a better share final yr than Santana, who noticed altered protection in 356 of his 362 left-handed batting appearances. With the ban of the shift coming in 2023, the switch-hitting Santana may see a big profit.
After a midseason commerce to the Mariners, Santana emerged shortly as a frontrunner, one thing the Pirates — whose oldest place participant on the 40-man roster is 31-year-old Ji-Man Choi, for whom they traded earlier this winter — desperately want.
Santana is getting into his 14th season and has a profession line of .242/.359/.432 with 278 residence runs and 925 RBIs. He’ll rejoin Pirates supervisor Derek Shelton, who was the massive league hitting coach for Cleveland when Santana joined the group following a commerce from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008.
Nonetheless a robust defensive first baseman, Santana is finest identified for his plate self-discipline and energy. He has posted stroll charges of better than 13% in each large league season and hit a minimum of 18 residence runs in every of his 11 full years within the main leagues.
The Pirates, whose payroll was among the many backside 5 in baseball this yr for the fifth consecutive season, are anticipated to additional add through free company or trades this winter as a younger core led by middle fielder Bryan Reynolds, shortstop Oneil Cruz, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, starter Mitch Keller and nearer David Bednar anticipates the arrival of catcher Henry Davis, second baseman Nick Gonzales and right-hander Quinn Priester.
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