3:02pm: Anthopoulos tells reporters, including Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star, that he made no effort to trade Santos and has already placed him on waivers (Twitter link). Santos did not ask to be traded, either. Toronto’s hope is that Santos will clear waivers and head to Triple-A to rediscover his form.
2:18pm: The Blue Jays announced that they have designated right-hander Sergio Santos for assignment and recalled southpaw Rob Rasmussen from Triple-A Buffalo.
Santos, 31, has rarely been healthy since the Blue Jays surprisingly acquired him from the White Sox prior to the 2012 season. He missed the majority of his first season north of the border following surgery to repair a frayed labrum in his shoulder, and last season he was sidelined by triceps injuries. This year, a forearm strain has shelved Santos and likely contributed to some significant struggles on the mound.
Santos looked excellent in 25 2/3 innings last season — he posted a 1.75 ERA with a 28-to-4 K/BB ratio — but he’s been lost in 2014. The former ChiSox stopper has a 7.78 ERA wit 26 strikeouts and 17 walks in 19 2/3 innings. His command issues haven’t just been limited to free passes, as he’s also uncorked four wild pitches in that relatively short amount of time.
Suffice it to say, if this is the end of his time with the Jays, Santos’ tenure in Toronto didn’t pan out as well as GM Alex Anthpoulos had hoped when he plucked him from the South Siders in exchange for prospect Nestor Molina. However, it appears that Anthopoulos still did a commendable job of selling high on Molina, who had a 2.21 ERA in 130 1/3 innings in 2011 but has posted a combined 4.56 ERA across three levels in Chicago’s minor league system since. Now 25 years old, he has thrown just four innings at the Triple-A level — all of which came in 2012.
The Jays still owe Santos roughly $1.43MM of this season’s $3.75MM salary, as well as a $750K buyout on the first of three club options in the three-year, $8.25MM extension he originally signed with the Sox.
His WHIP above 2 screams stay away… but he was really good recently
and has an absolutely wipeout slider.
Which is also why he walks 7.1 batters per 9.
*had
no he still has it, he has just lost all command of his fastball
No lose situation for the Jays here. If someone claims him, they free up some much needed cash, if no one does, he goes down to Buffalo to sort things out.
He’s only making 3.75M this year, and the pro-rated portion of this contract for the remainder of the year should absolutely not be what prevents the Jays from adding more payroll.
Before the deal with Colorado for Drew Pomeranz surfaced, I read that Billy almost traded Brett Anderson to Toronto for him. Guess we dodged a bullet on that one…
Either that or you read something false…
It was reported on this site!
Oh man this makes me even happier the A’s didn’t trade Anderson for.him and instead traded for pomeranz
Bad breaks for the Surge Protector. I’ve liked the kid since we learned about him in Spring Training 2010, and I hope he gets back soon.
That contract seemed so unbelievably team-friendly when the Jays traded for him. Three club options for about $3MM a piece? This is a guy capable of putting up numbers like a poor man’s Craig Kimbrel when he’s firing on all cylinders. Just can’t stay on the field and now he seems to have lost it. What a shame.
His 3 club options ARE NOT at 3M a piece. His club options are at 6M, 8M, and 8.8M a piece. These will obviously not be picked up, but as long as he is on a 40 Man roster prior to arbitration, he will simply go through arbitration.
I could see Pirates GM Neal Huntington acquiring Santos with the hope that pitching coach Ray Searage can turn him around.
I could see the White Sox picking him back up again.
I could see the White Sox picking him back up again.
If I’m the Pirates or Tigers, a waiver claim here seems to be a much better option than trading for Benoit at $8mm guaranteed in 2015 plus a 2016 buyout.
Except he hasn’t been good all year…
Gonna need more insurance than just Santos
One analyst pointed out the year that the Jays acquired him that he was a fluke. He converted to pitcher from SS and after one season was pitching in the majors. He said he was a thrower, had not learned to pitch and that the batters would figure him out. Typical Jays acquisition, a flash in the pan, followed by injuries and reality. The good news is that they didn’t give much up. Seems like the White Sox may have thought the same and traded him before he blew up.
Batters never “figured him out”, he’s simply lost his command this year. He was absolutely filthy last year; even for a small sample of 25 innings, a 0.58 WHIP is pretty insane. That’s how dominant he can be when he’s going good.
Couldn’t possibly agree more, Tanthalas. Santos was incredible last season, albeit a small sample size. Comments that suggest SS has simply “lost his command” or was a “flash-in-the pan/typical Jays acquisition” are little more than short-sighted, reactionary, typical ‘Jays-Hating’ propoganda to those with even a modicum of actual insight into this talented pitcher’s achievements & capabilities.
The objective truth about Sergio Santos is that he was and remains a steal in that trade for the inexorably vanishing prospect Molina and in fact his recent “struggles” are largely, if not exclusively, injury related. Furthermore, “freeing-up much needed salary” would be horrible compensation indeed for losing SS to another team! I genuinely hope that Santos makes it to AAA unclaimed & is provided ample time & opportunity to fully heal & regain his form as a member of the Jays’ organization.
Either way, we definitely haven’t heard the last of Sergio Santos; he’s a long way from being “washed up” & if AA were smart, he’d find a short-term solution in, say, Jonathan Papelbon until Santos is ready to come back & make all of you near-sighted naysayers eat your words!