It’s something. Not exactly the sexiest signing, but it’s the first meaningful one we’ve seen in a week, so it bears mentioning. It’s also in the NL Central.
First baseman Carlos Santana is signing a one-year, $6.7 million deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, per Jeff Passan. Santana, 36, has been roughly a league-average hitter overall by wRC+ the last three years, so his best offensive days are likely behind him. I imagine, though, that the Pirates are hoping he could become a flippable piece for them by midseason, especially if he’s a guy who benefits from the coming shift limits (I read somewhere that he was high up on that list).
The Pirates were known to be looking for a first baseman this offseason, though they’d already acquired Ji-Man Choi from the Rays. So if you REAAAAALLY stretch, you could say that Santana just went to a team that double-dipped on first base, thus pinching the first base market slightly, and thus maybe shifting an extra buyer into the market for a guy like Jose Abreu, in whom the Cubs are interested. But that feels like a stretch too far for me, since the overlap in Santana and Abreu markets would’ve figured to be small or non-existent.
But hey, we’ve got NOTHING to dissect lately, so I’ll do some stretching. Keeps the brain and body agile.
I’m sorry, did you say $6.7 million is the biggest in SIX years: