The Cleveland Guardians announced that they’ve signed free agent pitcher Enyel De Los Santos to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. The right-hander appeared in 33 games last season, splitting time with both Pennsylvania teams after Pittsburgh claimed him off waivers from the Phillies. He was subsequently outrighted off the Pirates’ roster in November and elected free agency shortly thereafter.
The 25-year-old pitched to a 6.37 ERA in 2021, demonstrating shaky control and a propensity to give up the long ball. These numbers align with his previous Major League performance, as De Los Santos was rocked in limited action with the Phils in both 2018 and 2019.
While Guardians fans may roll their eyes at this relatively modest signing, it’s not hard to see why a team would take a shot at harnessing the former Phillie’s stuff. The right-hander was a minor leaguer of some note not too long ago, participating in the 2018 Futures game and generally excelling as a starter through the Triple-A level. While his big league work out of the bullpen has left something to be desired, De Los Santos was able to post a gaudy 30.7% strikeout rate last season with Philadelphia. The newfound strikeout ability tailed off after the trade, but a second half fade was common for many pitchers after a bizarre 2020 season.
Gothamcityriddler
You spelled Indians wrong again. Ahahahaha!
lucas0622
Ok
LebronHatesAsians
Maybe you spelt spelled wrong? Or maybe you spelled spelled correctly? Or maybe this Monkey OG is some dank flower.
kingtopher
You racists sure are cute.
dkcsmc1991
Four posts in the get the racist game started.
Chipper Jones' illegitimate kid
“While Guardians fans may roll their eyes”
OIC2021
Oh come on . With Sandy Leon and now De Los Santos signed, the Guardians have won the pre lock-out signing period. They have not committed to any long term contracts providing superior financial flexibility.
48-team MLB
*Spiders
LebronHatesAsians
Amen. If nobody ever acknowledges their legal name and keep calling them the spiders it could stick. It could even be their thing. Cleveland needs something, not like they have the greatest names for pro sports.
Go Spiders!!!
Hairy Callous
Hey, it worked for the Phils when they were officially changed to the Blue Jays. Could work again. Spiders would’ve been so awesome.
dixoncayne
Let’s just move on.
sufferforsnakes
*Tribe
sleepy bear
Here in Wisconsin we have a Northwoods league team called the Dock Spiders. Fantastic name.
bucsfan0004
Welcome to the offseason, Tribe fans!
DarkSide830
im surprised he hasnt made the move to the KBO or NPB yet.
3Men&ABibee
I’m still holding out hope the tribe can somehow get Seiya Suzuki.
LebronHatesAsians
Geographic location makes it tough for teams like the Spiders to sign the big names from Japan when the money is equal from every team. Would be a perfect landing spot though.
Yankee Clipper
Is this pronounced, [A-nal]?
LebronHatesAsians
It’s French
Chipper Jones' illegitimate kid
On Yell Day Low Sand Toes
JeffreyChungus
How many alternate accounts do you have
JeffreyChungus
not funny, didn’t laugh
tstats
Well I did
JeffreyChungus
That’s emblematic of the dullard you are tstats/Chipper Jones’ Kid/the 1-3 other accounts you post under
tstats
Actually, I am myself, and 99% of regular posters will agree that I am not a spawn of some other entity. This was a funny joke. Sure the rest of Chippers stuff is annoying but you really got aggravated for NO reason over a little play. Grow a pair
JeffreyChungus
Not funny, didn’t laugh. Perhaps your sense of humour needs to be recalibrated if you think anything Chipper has said was remotely funny or insightful. He is an evil man and must be banned forever
tstats
This one thing was funny, perhaps you need to grow a pair and find a sense of humor. In fact I find you quite trolly and uninsughtful… should we ban you???
brodie-bruce
i’m the only one that thought of gta v when i saw the name los santos
Vizionaire
what a guarded move!
Traffickers
thus concludes the Guardians free agency signings
Highest IQ
They’re trying to guard from outside talent.
Michael Chaney
I’m a Guardians fan but I chuckled at this
WhoNoze
The Indian Spiders need hitting but it will be via trade after the big FA signings.
ham77
I roll my eyes at the name of this team.
Michael Chaney
He probably is what he is at this point, but having only pitched about 65 innings in the majors, you hope there’s something left to tap into. He’s still only 25.
I personally really liked him as a prospect and thought he could turn into a solid starter. Not every intriguing prospect turns into something of value, but getting one while he’s still young (and almost literally for free) is a no-brainer.
Col_chestbridge
As of right now, he has an excellent chance to make their opening day roster. Because of their frenzy of 40 man additions, they have only 17 pitchers rostered and only 5 of those are primarily used as relievers. You can basically assume Hentges will get converted for one spot, but they still need to add two relievers to fill out an 8 man bullpen (unless maybe Logan Allen is moving to the bullpen as a swing/long man?).
richt
If you wanna call them the Spiders instead of the Guardians, I’m all for it
Yankee Clipper
Spiders is a really cool name and goes way back. I’m surprised they didn’t go with that.
Col_chestbridge
One of the Athletic writers noted that the team did not own the rights to the name Cleveland Spiders. He didn’t say who does, but I would assume the Cardinals, since the original Spiders were owned by the owner of the then St Louis Perfectos, and the whole reason the team folded in disgrace is that the owner took all of the good players from Cleveland to St Louis (including Cy Young).
Similarly my favorite option was the Negro League team the Cleveland Buckeyes. But getting that past legal would not have worked.
Yankee Clipper
Interesting, thanks for the information.
48-team MLB
As if they couldn’t name them after a specific type of spider and make that whole problem irrelevant…
Polish Hammer
So lucky to have been able to snag such a hot commodity prior to the lockout. Now that they signed their batting practice pitcher what’s next on the agenda?
West Casey
We decided to not allocate substantial resources in this area.
Under our unique set of circumstances, we will continue to monitor activities throughout the industry and seek out options we believe give us better opportunities to improve our organization. We to continue to discuss a myriad of possibilities which direct us toward our ultimate goal of winning the World Series.