At least as of one week ago, free agent starter Ervin Santana indicated that he was seeking a four-year deal in the $60MM range, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Though Santana had been said to be seeking a much larger contract earlier in the offseason, Passan wonders whether even the lowered asking price will be achievable at this point.
Santana, 31, has two major factors working against him: first, he suffered through a terrible 2012 season before finding redemption last year in Kansas City. And second, he comes with draft pick compensation attached since he declined the Royals' qualifying offer after the season.
With Matt Garza signing today for just four years and $52MM, it is fair to ask whether Santana can land a substantially larger contract. He may not be quite as good a pitcher as Garza, although he does not have the recent durability issues that the latter came with. But Santana, unlike Garza, will require his new team to give up a draft pick, and he remains on a market that has a competing arm in Ubaldo Jimenez.
