The Cleveland Guardians made what had to be a tough move for the franchise when they placed veteran Carlos Santana on outright waivers. If Santana is claimed, the team that picks him up assumes the balance of his salary.
If he clears waivers, the Guardians do not have to send him to the minor leagues and they also don’t have to remove him from the 40-man roster, although it would be a shock if they didn’t.
It’s a difficult move because of what Santana has meant to the franchise. He has spent parts of 11 seasons in Cleveland, in three different stints. He is fifth on the franchise’s all-time list in home runs, and only Jim Thome has drawn more walks.
Who can forget the vision of Santana catching a foul pop in Toronto in October 2016 to send Cleveland back to the World Series for the first time since 1997. And as the consummate teammate, volunteered to play leftfield in the Fall Classic in Wrigley Field to keep Mike Napoli’s bat in the lineup because there was no DH.
All that said, the front office didn’t do him any favors in bringing him back in 2025.
After the Guardians dealt Josh Naylor to Arizona, they quickly pivoted to Santana on a one-year deal. At the time, we thought they were making the move to ease Kyle Manzardo in the lineup, protecting him from lefties, because Santana was great vs. southpaws a year ago with Minnesota, putting up a 934 OPS with 12 homers in 147 at bats.
However, against righties, he hit just .219 with a 676 OPS. And the Guardians said they intended to play him as an everyday player.
Remember that the switch-hitter turned 39 years old this season and players simply don’t get better as they get closer to 40.
Through the end of May, Santana was very productive, hitting .261 with 7 HR and 29 RBI, walking 30 times. He had a .368 OBP and 770 OPS.
Since June 1st, those numbers fell off a cliff. He hit just .193 after the end of May with 4 homers and 23 ribbies. He walked 22 times vs. 49 strikeouts, a very un-Santana like ratio.
Against lefties, who he dominated last year, there was another fall off, with the veteran having a 681 OPS, and the power really dropped with just 4 dingers in 119 at bats.
He simply wasn’t the player the front office thought they were getting or perhaps they didn’t put him in the role in which he succeeded last season.
Furthermore, with David Fry unable to do anything else besides DH because of his surgically repaired elbow and Manzardo being strictly a first baseman defensively, Santana caused a roster logjam.
It just didn’t seem very well thought out.
The move signaled that the Guardians feel their chance at a playoff spot is getting slimmer by the day, and it is time to start looking at some younger players. They also have to see what Manzardo can do vs. left-handed pitching.
We have been asking how long the organization was going to let Santana get that much playing time, but the past two weeks, his playing time has gotten scares.
He has been a clubhouse leader and a very good player for the franchise. As we said before, part of us thinks the Guardians did not wrong by asking him to be what he could no longer be.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 