The Philadelphia Phillies hadn’t been competitive for a national championship in the postseason in a very long time.
The team placed last or second-to-last in the division six times during their ten-year hiatus, leaving them with a terrible past.
Throughout those seasons, the Phillies made several attempts to add some assistance via trade and free agency, but nothing appeared to click.
When they signed Carlos Santana to a $60, three-year contract in front of 2018, that is exactly what transpired.
He had just spent ten years slamming in Cleveland.251/.368/.450 with 710 RBI and 216 total home runs. He was a valuable first base defensive player with an OPS+ of 121.
To be fair, throughout the heat of such dismal performances by the team, Philadelphia supporters probably wanted to take similar action, but when a player takes such steps, they nearly invariably lead to their departure.
The Phillies traded him to the Seattle Mariners for Jean Segura, Juan Nicasio, and James Pazos, along with J.P. Crawford.
Since his time in Philadelphia, Santana has been with a number of different teams. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News reports that he has reached an agreement to sign with the Minnesota Twins.
It’s a one-year, $5.25 million contract with incentives, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
Observing how the 37-year-old does in 2024 will be interesting. He already belongs to the 1,000 RBI/300 home run club.
With the Twins, he hopes to increase that sum.