Former KC Royals infielder joins division rival on $12 million deal

The Kansas City Royals have been relatively quiet over the last few weeks, but the offseason is apparently just getting started for one of their division rivals, the Cleveland Guardians. On December 21, the Guardians traded first baseman Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitcher Slade Cecconi and a 2025 Competitive Balance Round B Draft Pick, and less than 30 minutes later, they dipped into the free agent market to sign an infielder — former Royals first baseman Carlos Santana.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Guardians and Santana "are in agreement on a one-year, $12 million contract, pending physical." This will be 38-year-old infielder's third stint in Cleveland.

Guardians sign former KC Royals first baseman

Originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005, Santana was traded to the Guardians in July 2008. He made his MLB debut with Cleveland in June 2010, and stayed with the team until the end of 2017, when he became a free agent. That winter, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Santana to a three-year deal with a club option for the 2021 season, but just a year later in December 2018, he was traded to the Guardians — again — and began his second stint with the team. At the end of the 2020 season, the Guardians declined the club option on Santana's deal, and he became a free agent.

On December 8, 2020, the Royals signed Santana to a two-year, $17.5 million contract to be their everyday first baseman. For the three seasons prior, Kansas City had been in a constant state of turnover at first base, and no player had started more than 55% of the team's games in a season at the position since Royals legend Eric Hosmer left the franchise at the end of 2017.

During 2021 with Kansas City, Santana slashed a disappointing .214/.319/.342 with 19 home runs and 69 RBI in 659 plate appearances. He posted an abysmal 83 wRC+ to rank seventh-worst in MLB among qualified hitters, though it was still somehow better than two other Royals players — Michael A. Taylor and Hunter Dozier — managed that season. The only redeeming stat of Santana's 2021 season was his 86 walks, which led the Royals by a significant margin and ranked eighth in MLB.

Santana started the 2022 season holding onto his position as the Royals' everyday first baseman, but on June 27, his time with the franchise came to an end when he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for reliever Wyatt Mills and minor-league pitcher William Fleming. At the time of the trade, Santana had posted a .216/.349/.341 line with 4 home runs and 21 RBI in 212 plate appearances for the Royals.

Since the end of 2022, Santana has added three more teams to his playing career, with brief stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Milwaukee Brewers, and Minnesota Twins. Although often inconsistent, the 38-year-old still has power at the plate, managing at least 20 home runs in each of his last two seasons. In 594 plate appearances for the Twins in 2024, he posted a .238/.328/.420 line with 23 home runs and 71 RBI.

Now, Santana will reportedly head back to the franchise that gave him his MLB debut almost 16 seasons ago, replacing recently-traded Naylor as the Guardians' first baseman alongside Kyle Manzardo, who made his major league debut in May 2024.