Danny Santana

NL East Notes: Volquez, Colon, Mets, Familia, Wheeler, Santana

By Mark Polishuk and Jeff Todd | July 8, 2017 at 9:09am CDT

The Marlins announced yesterday that right-hander Edinson Volquez was placed on the 10-day DL with left knee tendinitis. Recent reports have stated that Volquez’s knee issue isn’t very serious, and the placement appears designed mostly to extend his rest while keeping an extra player on hand — four of Volquez’s minimum 10 days will be taken up by the All-Star break, of course. In a big-picture sense, the Marlins may want to ensure that Volquez is healthy and fully rested to put on a few more showcase outings before rivals decide whether to pursue him at the trade deadline.

Here’s more from around the NL East…

The Mets were “stunned” by Bartolo Colon’s decision to sign with the Twins, a team source tells Mike Puma of the New York Post. The club believed that Colon’s recent history with the Mets and the fact that he still owns a home in New Jersey would give them the edge in the hunt for the veteran right-hander, though Colon chose a minor league deal with Minnesota over the Mets and at least a couple of other suitors.
Also from Puma’s piece, he notes that Mets closer Jeurys Familia will initiate a throwing program during the All-Star break. Familia underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his throwing shoulder in mid-May and was originally projected to begin throwing six weeks after that procedure. Despite being slightly behind that timeframe, Familiar is still hopeful of returning to action before the season is over.
Zack Wheeler apparently won’t face any innings restrictions during the second half of the season, a source tells Newsday’s Marc Carig. Wheeler is on pace for roughly 140 innings after missing all of 2015-16 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he got off to a strong start to the season before getting rocked for 15 runs in 3 2/3 IP over consecutive starts in June. Wheeler went on the DL with biceps tendinitis and then lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his return start, so clearly his health will remain some concern to the Mets, even if Wheeler isn’t being put on an innings limit.
The Braves have placed utilityman Danny Santana on the 10-day DL with a bacterial infection on his calf, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. Further tests are required to indicate whether or not Santana has a staph infection. Atlanta acquired Santana from the Twins in May, and he has hit .230/.287/.402 in 94 PA for the Braves, though he has recently performed better at the plate after a slow start. Santana has also provided the Braves with some useful versatility, starting games at second base, third base and all three outfield spots.

NL East Notes: Pill, Ruiz, Marlins, Glover

By Steve Adams | May 26, 2017 at 10:45am CDT

The Mets are promoting Triple-A righty Tyler Pill to join their pitching staff, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports (Twitter link). It’s not clear exactly what role Pill will have with the club, though DiComo does note that Jacob deGrom is healthy and is making his start tonight, so Pill won’t be stepping directly into the rotation. Pill, who turns 27 this weekend, has done a nice job keeping runs off the board in a tough Las Vegas environment this year, tossing 46 innings with a stellar 1.96 ERA. His secondary stats aren’t as encouraging, as he’s averaged just 4.5 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 with a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate. Pill isn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster, meaning New York will have to make some type of move in order to formally select his contract from Triple-A.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

Rio Ruiz wasn’t called upon when Adonis Garcia hit the disabled list last week, but after being promoted in the wake of Freddie Freeman’s injury, the 23-year-old corner infielder has impressed the Braves enough that he’ll likely remain their primary third baseman upon Garcia’s activation, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports. Atlanta still has some questions about Ruiz’s strikeout tendencies and ability to hit lefties, but his .320/.393/.480 start to his career and .262/.305/.447 effort thus far in Triple-A have apparently earned him some trust. (It probably doesn’t hurt Ruiz’s case that Garcia was struggling to a dismal .237/.278/.348 batting line at the time he was placed on the DL.) With Garcia nearing activation from the DL, the roster spots of Emilio Bonifacio and Danny Santana could be at risk, Bowman adds.
The potential price tag in a sale of the Marlins could dip further below the reported $1.3 billion mark that both the Derek Jeter/Jeb Bush and Tom Glavine/Tagg Romney groups were said to be willing to exceed, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Heyman spoke to one person with knowledge of the Bush-Jeter group in particular and said that group is still short of the necessary capital to formally make such a bid. He adds that some potential suitors for the Marlins have backed away after looking “under the hood,” so to speak, which gels with previous reports that the team’s lack of revenue and long-term payroll commitments could be negatively impacting the sale process.
Though he’d already been operating in such a capacity without the title, Koda Glover has been officially labeled the Nationals’ closer by manager Dusty Baker, writes MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. “We wanted to break him in slowly because this guy’s … shoot, he’s only a year-and-a-half out of college,” said Baker. “So he had said that’s the job he wanted, and so it’s his now.” Glover took the reins from veteran righty Shawn Kelley after Kelley blew a save recently and has excelled since being activated from a minor DL stint. The 24-year-old hasn’t been scored upon in his past five appearances and has been the Nationals’ most effective reliever in 2017, tossing 14 innings with a 2.57 ERA, 7.1 K/9, 1.3 BB/9 and a 47.6 percent ground-ball rate.

Braves Acquire Danny Santana From Twins For Kevin Chapman

By Jeff Todd | May 8, 2017 at 6:23pm CDT

The Braves and Twins have announced a swap that will send infielder/outfielder Danny Santana to Atlanta in exchange for lefty Kevin Chapman and cash considerations. Santana had been designated for assignment by Minnesota.

Atlanta will hope that Santana represents an upgrade for the team’s beleaguered bench. Lane Adams was optioned to open an active roster spot, while the club moved Micah Johnson to the 60-day DL to create 40-man space.

Santana, a 26-year-old switch-hitter, brings plenty of defensive versatility in the field and good speed on the bases. But he has struggled badly at the plate in recent years, posting a cumulative .225/.258/.310 batting line since the start of the 2015 season — with 131 strikeouts against just 19 walks. What remains tantalizing about him, however, was his debut campaign back in 2014, when he slashed .319/.353/.472 with seven home runs and twenty stolen bases.

Chapman has also shown both his talent and some limitations over the years. Across 55 total MLB frames, he owns a 4.09 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 5.1 BB/9. He has shown bigger swing-and-miss potential at times in the upper minors, though. Since being claimed and outrighted by the Braves, Chapman has tamped down on the walks — a career-low 2.3 per nine — but has been touched for ten earned runs on 14 hits over 11 2/3 innings.

Twins Designate Danny Santana

By Jeff Todd | May 5, 2017 at 3:52pm CDT

The Twins have designated infielder/outfielder Danny Santana for assignment, as Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was among those to report on Twitter. His roster spot was needed with utilityman Ehire Adrianza and righty Drew Rucinski headed onto the active roster. (The former was on the DL; the latter had his contract selected.)

Santana, 26, broke into the league with a stunning 2014 season in which he slashed .319/.353/.472 with seven home runs and twenty steals. But he also went down on strikes 98 times while drawing 19 walks, portending some difficulty maintaining that level of production.

As it turned out, Santana has fallen flat offensively ever since. It was much the same this year, as his playing time dwindled. All told, Santana has posted an anemic .225/.258/.310 batting line since the start of 2015. And though he has played up the middle in the infield and outfield, Santana hasn’t rated well at shortstop or in center.

AL Central Notes: Sale, Quintana, Davis, Wang, Santana

By Steve Adams | September 1, 2016 at 8:16am CDT

Over the weekend, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago reported that the Red Sox weren’t willing to include Jackie Bradley in a trade for either Chris Sale or Jose Quintana, and this morning, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports adds to that a bit. “If they didn’t get Jackie Bradley, there was no way they were doing the deal,” a person familiar with the talks told Heyman in reference to the White Sox. While there’s been plenty of speculation (and optimism from fans of other teams) that the Pale Hose could market one of their two ace-caliber lefties this winter, Heyman spoke to multiple people that indicated owner Jerry Reinsdorf still has little to no interest in parting with either Sale or Quintana, as his primary focus is putting a winner on the field right now. Sale, 28 next March, is controllable from 2017-2019 season for $38MM, while Quintana, who turns 28 in January, is owed $36.85MM from 2017-20.

More notes from the division…

The Royals are planning to activate All-Star closer Wade Davis from the disabled list on Friday, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Davis might’ve been activated prior to Wednesday’s contest, he notes, but a rainout at Triple-A earlier this week delayed his final rehab appearance and, thus, his return to the active roster. Davis has been out since July 31 due to a forearm strain, and the Royals’ fortunes have certainly changed since that injury. At the time of Davis’ placement on the disabled list, he was an oft-rumored trade candidate for a Royals team that had fallen quite a ways out of contention in the American League Central and in the AL Wild Card hunt. However, despite lacking one of the game’s best relievers for more than a month, Kansas City has gone 20-8 since Davis was placed on the disabled list. They’re now 6.5 games back in the division and just three games out of the second Wild Card spot in the AL.
While Davis is returning, the Royals will lose right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to the disabled list, Dodd notes within that same piece. Wang is being placed on the 15-day DL due to tendinitis in his right biceps. While Wang’s numbers don’t stand out (4.22 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 3.0 BB/9), he’s yielded just two runs in his past 11 innings while working in a multi-inning role. Kansas City is hopeful that he’ll be able to return in the minimum 15 days, though expanded September rosters give Kansas City the luxury of taking things a bit slowly with his recovery.
Danny Santana’s season is over, as the Twins utilityman has suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder and will require four to six weeks to recover from the injury, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. As Berardino notes, Santana once rated as one of Minnesota’s top 10 to 15 prospects, but his struggles over the past two seasons now leave his future with the team in doubt. Santana, 25, burst onto the scene in 2014 with a .319/.353/.472 slash in 101 games, but his production was largely propped up by a BABIP north of .400. Regression was easy to project thanks to that bloated BABIP, but he’s fallen farther than even pessimistic forecasts might’ve indicated. Over the past two seasons, the switch-hitter has slashed just .227/.259/.308 in 525 plate appearances. Santana is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to remain on the active roster or be exposed to waivers before he’s eligible to be sent outright to the minors.

Twins Designate Oswaldo Arcia

By Jeff Todd | June 16, 2016 at 10:31pm CDT

The Twins have designated outfielder Oswaldo Arcia for assignment, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was among those to report on Twitter. His roster spot will go to Danny Santana, who was activated from the DL.

[Related: Updated Twins depth chart]

Arcia only just turned 25, and isn’t long removed from being an above-average hitter in a semi-regular role. Indeed, he popped twenty home runs in 2014. But Arcia has long been considered a marginal defender, and he hasn’t been quite as productive at the plate of late.

In 114 plate appearances this year at the major league level, Arcia owns a .214/.289/.369 slash with four home runs. That comes on the heels of a 2015 campaign in which Arcia spent most of his time playing poorly at Triple-A.

All said, it’s a disappointing turn of events for both team and player. With no options remaining, Arcia needed to perform well enough to keep a roster spot this year, and that obviously hasn’t occurred.

Arcia could draw interest on the trade market or be claimed if he makes it to waivers. The question, really, is whether any team is willing to utilize a 40-man spot and put him onto an active roster. With just over two years of major league service entering the year, Arcia is playing at just over the league minimum and can be controlled for three more seasons via arbitration.

AL Notes: Buxton, Travis, Severino, Gomez

By Jeff Todd | May 30, 2016 at 11:50pm CDT

The Twins have recalled Byron Buxton to take the roster spot of fellow outfielder Danny Santana, who’s headed to the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring. Long considered one of the game’s truly elite prospects, Buxton scuffled badly in the early going this year, racking up 24 strikeouts in just 49 plate appearances. He’s been laying waste to Triple-A pitching since his demotion, however, posting a .333/.402/.605 slash with six home runs and four steals over 127 plate appearances. Buxton entered the year with 113 days of service to his credit, and has added another twenty thus far in 2016, so he’d stand to pass one year of service time if he can stick for a reasonable stretch.

Here’s more from the American League:

Red Sox prospect Sam Travis has suffered a torn left ACL, Boston announced. The first baseman will be out for the rest of the season, though the team says the expectation is he’ll be ready for 2017. Travis looked like a useful depth piece in the near-term, and some had suggested that the young first baseman could factor into the team’s plans next year. While that may still prove to be the case, he’ll miss a big stretch of development and a chance to show that he’s ready. That makes it difficult to imagine Boston altering its spending plans based on the promise that the 22-year-old will be ready for a major role. A second-round pick in 2014, Travis had posted a solid (but hardly dominant) .272/.332/.434 slash in 190 plate appearances at Triple-A.
The Yankees are playing the long game in optioning prized righty Luis Severino, as Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog reports. After an excellent debut in 2015, the 22-year-old had allowed 29 earned runs and eight long balls in his 35 innings of work to start the year. While the triceps strain that landed Severino on the DL appears to be a blip, the organization has broader concerns and obviously decided that he was due for some further polishing. Skipper Joe Girardi explained: “This is a kid with a lot of talent, and we want, the next time he comes up, to be a finished product. He came up last year — some of it was based on need — and did very well. Sometimes when you enter your second season and people have seen you, you have to make adjustments probably more than you’ve ever had to make, it’s not always so easy. So that’s why I think that he’ll get through this and it’s going to make him a better pitcher.”
Outfielder Carlos Gomez will be activated tomorrow by the Astros, the team announced. Houston is hoping that the 30-year-old former star can turn things around after a dreadful start. He’ll take the roster spot of third baseman Colin Moran, who’ll be optioned back to Triple-A. Moran, 23, managed only two base hits while striking out six times in his twenty plate appearances, though that represented a limited opportunity in his first taste of the majors.

Injury Updates: Pirates, McCullers, Santana

By Connor Byrne | April 17, 2016 at 12:02pm CDT

Here’s the latest injury news from around Major League Baseball:

The Pirates announced that both infielder Jung Ho Kang and right-handed reliever Jared Hughes will begin rehab assignments at Triple-A Indianapolis in the upcoming week. Kang, who will play for Indy on Monday, is certainly the bigger piece of the two, having put up a 3.9-fWAR season as a rookie in 2015. After coming over from Korea, the shortstop/third baseman hit .287/.355/.461 with 15 home runs before suffering torn ligaments in his knee in September. Kang is allowed 20 days on his rehab assignment, which means the latest he can return to the Pirates is May 7, tweets Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Hughes, meanwhile, has exceeded 60 innings three of the last four years out of the Bucs’ bullpen, and his ERA hasn’t surpassed 2.85 in any of those seasons. Although the ground-ball pitcher owns a 2.77 ERA in 250 career innings, FIP (3.95) and xFIP (3.93) aren’t quite buying his bottom-line results.
Astros right-hander Lance McCullers threw Sunday without any problems, reports Brian McTaggart of MLB.com (on Twitter). The 22-year-old has yet to debut this season because of shoulder troubles, and he had to be scratched from a rehab start earlier this week because of “lingering recovery issues” from his prior outing. McCullers burst on the scene as a rookie in 2015, tossing 125 2/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball (3.26 FIP, 3.50 xFIP) to accompany a stellar 9.24 K/9. Without McCullers, the Astros’ rotation has put up a lofty 4.82 ERA this year.
Twins outfielder Danny Santana, who landed on the disabled list April 9 because of a hamstring injury, could begin a rehab assignment midway through the upcoming week, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Santana played all three outfield positions for the Twins during his first four games prior to the injury, though he went just 2 for 12 with no extra-base hits or walks at the plate. Twins outfielders have been putrid in general this year, so Santana could work his way back into the lineup when he returns. However, he was ineffective over 91 games last season in putting up a .215/.241/.291 line and -1.4 fWAR. Those numbers served as a stark contrast to Santana’s red-hot, 101-game rookie campaign in 2014 (.319/.353/.472, 3.3 fWAR).

Twins Promote Max Kepler

By | April 9, 2016 at 11:01pm CDT

The Twins have called up outfield prospect Max Kepler, tweets Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. Kepler, 23, appeared briefly for the Twins last season, compiling just seven plate appearances total. He’ll fill in for utility man Danny Santana who will head to the disabled list with a strained hamstring.

Kepler performed well in Double-A last season. In 482 plate appearances, he hit nine home runs, stole 18 bases, and slashed .322/.416/.531. He walked (71) more times than he struck out (67). MLB.com ranked Kepler the 43rd best prospect entering this season.

In the unlikely event that Kepler remains with the club all season, he would be on track to reach free agency after the 2021 season. Of course, the Twins could easily push that back to 2022 or later by optioning him.

AL Central Notes: Price, Indians, Lindor, Santana

By Steve Adams | June 8, 2015 at 11:02am CDT

In an interview with Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (video link), Tigers ace David Price discussed his lasting connection with the Vanderbilt baseball program, the absence of Victor Martinez in his team’s lineup, his early picks for the AL Cy Young and, perhaps most interestingly to MLBTR readers, his upcoming free agency. Price says that free agency hasn’t been on his mind very often throughout the year to this point, as he tries to focus on the season at hand. Price adds that winning “takes precedent over everything else” when thinking about where he will play after 2015, but he feels the culture of the team will be important as well. “I want to have fun,” said Price. “There are some teams that are just a no-fun zone. I don’t care how much money I’m making. To me, I couldn’t imagine waking up and [not wanting to go to the field]. I couldn’t handle that. I’ll quit before that happens.” The 2012 Cy Young winner also reiterated that he wants a chance to win both immediately and long-term.

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