Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
He rejected a qualifying offer from the Kansas City Royals ($14.1MM), but now Ervin Santana is willing to take a one-year deal. This news is according to a report by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Last year with the Royals, Santana’s numbers were as follows: 9-10, 3.24 ERA, 211 IP, 1.142 WHIP, 127 ERA+, 3.93 FIP, 3.69 xFIP. He also lowered his flyball rate from 37.3% in 2012 to 32.9% for last season.
Heyman’s report states the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and one NL team are in the mix for one year of Santana’s services.
Also included within Heyman’s report:
– The Blue Jays are willing to give Santana $14MM with no incentives.
– The Orioles aren’t quite at the $14MM number, but might be willing to go there through incentives.
– The NL rumored in on Santana is the Colorado Rockies.
– Heyman notes that Santana “prefers to sign with a top hitting team”. Well, what pitcher wouldn’t? It makes sense that Santana would. Maybe that could aid in hiding his inconsistencies.
Where to go? Don’t know, but seeing this was interesting…
Dan Duquette on reports that Ervin Santana has signed with an AL team: "I haven't heard that." Read into that what you will
— Dan Connolly (@danconnolly2016) March 8, 2014
So could it be the O’s? Let’s look at something first.
All three teams possess an offensive capable of producing a lot of runs for Santana. All three teams also play their home games in hitter-friendly parks. In checking out the park factors on Fangraphs, the best option might be Toronto.
| Season | Team | Basic | 1B | 2B | 3B | HR | SO | BB | GB | FB | LD | IFFB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rockies | 115 | 107 | 109 | 125 | 113 | 96 | 101 | 105 | 99 | 108 | 94 |
| 2013 | Orioles | 103 | 102 | 100 | 90 | 110 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 100 | 100 | 98 |
| 2013 | Blue Jays | 102 | 97 | 105 | 104 | 107 | 102 | 99 | 99 | 101 | 100 | 98 |
Take into account the draft pick here. The Orioles already have “sacrificed” two for signing Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz. So what’s another if you’re playing in the AL East…
For Toronto, they have two protected first round selections at #9 and #11. The 11th pick is protected due to the inability to sign last year’s top pick. Their next pick would be #50. Not too hard a decision to make there, right?
As for Colorado, their #8 pick is protected. They have the #35 pick as part of the competitive balance round.
No question that whatever deal Santana inks, it will be a far cry from the alleged $100MM deal he was rumored to have been seeking. Not many days ago, it was also noted that he could be willing to take a deal similar to that of Matt Garza (four years, $50MM). That apparently has not surfaced either.
And sure, in hindsight, Santana should have taken the Royal QO. He’d be in camp, have at least one spring outing under his belt and wouldn’t have to play catch up to the rest of his pitching brethren. You can only accomplish so much working out while not being in a MLB camp.