Carlos Santana’s third tenure with the Guardians ends with unceremonious release

On Tuesday, the Cleveland Guardians placed Carlos Santana on waivers in the hopes that some team would be willing to take a flier on the veteran and the remaining $2 million on his contract.

And, when no one did, the Guardians took matters into their own hands. 

On Thursday, the team announced that it had released Santana as the corresponding move for their activation of Daniel Schneemann from the paternity list. 

While it was an understandable move given Santana’s lack of production this season, it was still an unceremonious end to one of the most well-regarded players in franchise history. 

Carlo Santana’s third tenure with the Guardians ends with unceremonious release

Santana, who was signed to a one-year, $12 million deal with the Guardians last December after the team traded Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks. And even if their trade of Naylor has aged well given Slade Cecconi’s production and Naylor’s trade to the Mariners, Santana’s time with the club hasn’t.

He slashed just .225/.316/.333 across 455 plate appearances and struggled against both right-and-left-handed pitchers. 

He’s still great in the field (7 Outs Above Average) but was becoming more and more of a black hole in the lineup. He also was beginning to serve as more of a roadblock for the development of some key players on their roster since he was taking time away from both Kyle Manzardo and C.J. Kayfus. 

Neither of them are as good in the field as Santana, but Manzardo is beginning to look more and more like a franchise cornerstone while Kayfus has shown enough at the plate to earn more of a look. 

Manzardo’s one of two current Guardians with an OPS+ above 100 , and just recorded his third walk-off of the year in Cleveland’s huge win over the Rays. Kayfus, meanwhile, has already hit two home runs and has batted as high as second in the batting order.

The move also means the team will keep Will Wilson, who had a three-hit game yesterday, on the roster. 

Santana will now (likely) finish his Cleveland career with a .249/.364/.441 slashline with 227 home runs and 762 RBI in 1,450 games across his three different tenures with the clubs. Not bad for a guy who was acquired as a minor leaguer from the Dodgers in exchange for Casey Blake. 

Santana will now be free to sign with any club for the prorated league minimum. He’ll also be postseason-eligible so long as he signs before Sept. 1. 

The Reds stand out as an option due to the lack of production they’ve gotten at first base (along with Terry Francona’s affinity for Santana), but there will likely be a couple other contenders who could be interested in bringing in Santana, especially since he’s just going to be owed the league minimum.