One of the top sluggers on the free agent market has officially come off the board, and you may be surprised to see where he landed.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported on Friday that Carlos Santana has signed a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Sources: phillies agree to deal with Carlos Santana
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 15, 2017
Santana’s deal is $60M for 3 years with philly
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 15, 2017
Santana spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Cleveland Indians. The 31-year-old is just a career .247 hitter and batted .259 last year, but he can hit for power and draws about 100 walks per season. He hit 23 home runs last season and 34 in 2016.
Teams that were interested in Santana included the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox, so it’s somewhat of a surprise that he landed in Philly. The Phillies have won 73 or less games in each of the past five seasons, so it would seem that Santana merely signed with the highest bidder rather than trying to join a contender.
One interesting question is what will happen with Rhys Hoskins, who was a revelation at first base for the Phillies last season. Early indications are he might move to left field in light of this news. He made 29 starts in left field and 21 at first last season.
