The Royals sign Carlos Santana
There are still plenty of questions surrounding the 2021 Major League Baseball season, but that hasn’t stopped teams from preparing and building their squads. The Kansas City Royals filled a major hole in their roster this week by signing veteran first baseman Carlos Santana to a two-year deal worth $17.5m per season. He could earn significantly more based on performance-related bonuses including reaching the All-Star Game or winning a Golden Glove or Silver Slugger.
The 34-year-old hit for career highs in Cleveland two seasons ago, but struggled to adapt during the shortened 2020 season. The Indians opted not to pick up the $17.5m option they had on the veteran for the upcoming season, making him a free agent.
Kanas City finished fourth in the American League Central last season, with a losing record of 26-34. They are hoping that the acquisition of Santana will help add depth in a lineup that really struggled to generate offense in 2020.
“One of our objectives this offseason was to add a middle-of-the-order bat, someone that would blend in well with our current group, make us a lot better,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said, via ESPN. “Carlos certainly does that.”
The Royals made no secret about their interest in the former All-Star, hoping to land him as soon as he became available as a free agent.
“He was one of the primary targets for us when we began to make offseason plans,” Moore said. “You know, once we began our season, we started talking mid-to-late July [about] players that would potentially fit for us. Carlos’ name was at the forefront of that based on the opportunity that we perceived that would perhaps present itself for us – middle of the order, switch hitter, highly professional. Winning-type player.”
While the Royals claimed just the second World Series title in franchise history in 2015, they’ve failed to reach the playoffs in five consecutive seasons since. They had reached the World Series for two straight seasons, losing to the San Francisco Giants in 2014 before ultimately winning in 2015 but have really struggled in recent years.
While Kansas City hasn’t always been able to address their needs in free agency in the past, they have been able to take advantage of the process this year already to bolster their squad.
“I’ve said many times, ‘free agency is a flawed way to build your team,'” Moore said. “That’s why this offseason we’ve tried to do it from the top down. We’ve tried to add some guys that had a little more impact. Two-year deals, we have a little more flexibility in 2022 than we have in 2021, just because of the economics of the game, but financially we’re in a position to add a little more money, a little more flexibility in the payroll.”
It remains to be seen whether Santana will be able to rebound from a down season last year, but the Royals are happy they got their man and on a relatively low-risk two-year deal at that.
