[Passan] First baseman Carlos Santana and the Cleveland Guardians are in agreement on a one-year, $12 million contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. The Guardians traded Josh Naylor, and now they bring the 39-year-old Santana back for his third stint with the organization.

40 comments

  1. HOW DOES THIS MAKE US BETTER. FUCKING HOW. WE WERE IN THE ALCS LAST YEAR GOD DAMMIT.

    Edit- my anger has subsided a bit. Moves make a bit of sense. Still not happy tho.

  4. Sooooo we traded an all star 1B who made 14M to sign a 39 year old guy for….2M less? I hate being a poverty organization.

  6. Save a few dollars. Get better defensively. Carlos can still bop. I love Carlos and am happy to see him back.

  7. The only thing I can say about this is Santana has an obvious shorter shelf life than Naylor to clear the way for Manzardo sooner. But given that Fry can’t play the field next year anyway it feels like we should have pursued an outfielder instead.

  14. The plan is clearly to platoon 1B. Santana had a .934OPS vs left handed pitching last year. Manzardo significantly better vs Right handed.

  16. So essentially

    1 year of Josh

    For

    1 year of Slamtana and 6 of Slade

    Santana had a fine year last year, I’m not sure how likely it is that he repeats last year, but from a legitimately non-cope perspective, I think it is understandable if the team can think Santana and a full season of Manzardo could out-produce Naylor

    I’d also assume this is Santana’s last season

    I still don’t think they’re done

  17. Now THIS is a reason to be mad. If you were gonna invest $12M on the ghost of Carlos Santana, just push it up to $18-20 and sign an actual impact talent!!

  19. So now we know the real move. Santana and Naylor were essentially the same player by WRC+ last year, and Santana can play better defense at first. So you traded Naylor for Santana, Cecconi, and a first round pick. I’m willing to bet this trade makes us better in 2025

  23. Are people forgetting how horrendously bad Naylor was in the postseason? At least Carlos can draw a walk if nothing else

  24. I do t understand what this team is doing. Carlos walks and that’s great but dudes old. And is a slightly above average bat. Where the hell are we going to get power from?

  25. Their numbers last season were pretty comparable honestly. Good locker room presence vet and won’t have an issue DHing/getting benched if Manzardo or someone steps up.

  26. Y’all know Manzo is our main 1B if we kept Josh he would have been a bench warmer. A 39 year old Carlos that’s slightly cheaper is a perfect bench warmer late inning power hitter

  27. Damn, wasn’t expecting to be in the minority who likes what happened here today. This makes plenty of sense to me. The fact that Naylor would not DH was blocking Manzardo and that was gonna be a problem. Naylor had other problems with his body too. Not even his weight, I’m not going there. He was just banged up all the time and in October those chickens came home to roost.

    Carlos is going to provide some pop, he’s going to switch hit and have great ABs, he’s going to play gold glove defense, and he’s going to be a great leader for guys like Manzardo and Jhonkensy.

    I like this move a lot. It’s the same money and the same commitment too. Josh was not better than Carlos Santana last season outside of the first 8-10 weeks of the year. After that, this is possibly just gonna be the same hitter. And there are going to be other bonuses too.

    I’m genuinely not even coping when I say that this might actually be the best path forward for the Guardians in 2025. Carlos Santana is my favorite Cleveland ball player of my life and that has nothing to do with my take!!! (He really is, but it really does not. That’s a cherry on top.)

  29. Okay Kyle, it looks like you will get to play some first base this year! And Carlos is a great one to learn from! I wouldn’t doubt that both of you could hit 20 homers each this year!

  30. Ok, I think this has to do with potential injury with Josh down the line. He looked a little rough at multiple points in the year and Santana has had regular playing time and can still slug. Although he is older they might see him as a safer 1st baseman than Josh long term. Trade him now while you still can and get back a work in progress pitcher who they can filp for more than 2 mill in a year’s time.

    With big Xmas in the daily line up to mash the ball do we need another slugger?

    I also believe this is for training our younger 1st baseman with Santana then let him go or trade him again cause he will be back when he is 45 lol.

    Is Kwan locked in yet? This could be more money to lock him down for good.

    Trades are not done yet so interesting to see if they acquire another young bat.

  32. Waiting to see the return (really hoping it’s Naylor and prospects for a RF or mid-rotation arm, but don’t know the DBacks well enough to venture a guess.

    Comparable pay between the two, but the chance to cash in on Naylor after a good season seems wise. His weight and lack of durability (injuries, wearing down late in 2024) are problematic. Carlos is an ace defender and on-base machine who can bridge the gap to Ralphy/Kayfus.

    A successful offseason still needs an upgrade on Brennan and another arm. Hopefully these moves get the team closer to that.

  34. I’m out doing Christmas errands, so maybe someone else can confirm. But if I’m remember right, Santana and Naylor were pretty similar statistically last year.

  40. The Guardians are innovators. They found the cheapest way possible to make an old fan like me happy. Bringing back Santana

Leave a Reply