Phoenix.– The Arizona D-backs reached an agreement with the experienced Dominican first baseman Carlos Santana, according to a report this Tuesday by the specialized media outlet The Athletic. The club has not yet made the hiring official.
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Santana, with 16 seasons of experience in the Major Leagues, is a former All-Star, winner of the Gold Glove and one of the most disciplined hitters of his generation. He currently leads active MLB players in walks, with a total of 1,330, in addition to recording an on-base percentage of .352 and an OPS+ of 112 throughout his career, figures above the league average. The Dominican veteran, who will turn 40 years old on April 8th, is coming off a complicated 2025 season, in which his offensive production was limited. In 116 games with the Cleveland Guardians and eight with the Chicago Cubs, Santana batted for .219/.308/.325, with 11 home runs and an OPS+ of 77, the lowest of his career. During that campaign, his offensive decline was influenced by a low rate of hard contact and a significant increase in strikeouts. These difficulties led Cleveland to release him on the “28th of August”, before signing with the Cubs on the “1st of September”. Despite this, Santana showed flashes of his usual power, connecting 28 hits at over 105 miles per hour, with an impressive average of .607 on those connections. In addition, he maintained solid plate discipline, with a walk rate of 11%, located in the 80th percentile of MLB. Defensively, the Dominican continued to stand out as one of the best at first base. In 2025, he recorded eight Outs Above Average and six runs prevented, ranking among the leaders at the position in the Major Leagues. Santana was not subject to qualifying offer, so his signing does not entail compensation or penalty in Draft selections, a factor that facilitated the agreement with Arizona.
