Royals Acquire Ervin Santana From Angels

True to form, Dayton Moore made a trade shortly after the World Series. Ken Rosenthal broke the news that the Royals have acquired right-handed starter Ervin Santana from the Los Angeles Angels in return for left-handed minor league reliever Brandon Sisk. The Royals reportedly receive $1 million cash in the deal as well.

Sep 12, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels starter Ervin Santana (54) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

The Angels had until the end of the day to exercise an option year that would pay Santana $13 million in 2013. They’d been aggressively shopping he and Dan Haren to teams to dump off the salary obligation to get anything back in return. Santana had a bad 2012 season after giving up a league leading 39 homers, but if his 18.9 HR/FB% regresses to the league norm, his numbers could look much better going forward. He’ll turn 30 in December.

The Royals gave up Brandon Sisk, a lefty who’d been in the organization since 2008. He’s a high strikeout guy with a good slider, but at 27 years old, wasn’t likely to crack the big league roster any time soon.

There’s some risk to taking on Santana, but it’s very slight. If he’s just lost his effectiveness, the Royals are just spinning their wheels, but there’s enough of a chance that he’ll be league average or better to take the chance. That the Royals are giving up a player that wouldn’t have been protected from the Rule 5 draft anyway and getting cash in return makes it a very attractive deal for them. Worst case scenario is that Santana struggles and the Royals don’t see him past 2013 anyway.

The Royals have already claimed Chris Volstad off waivers and should still look to add another pitcher or two to improve the rotation. Dan Haren was someone many speculated the Royals might take a shot at. The Angels have until Friday to decide on his $15.5 million option. As J.J. Cooper of Baseball America said: