$17.5 million.Thats how much itll cost the Cleveland Indians to keep Carlos Santana next year for his age-35 season.Its a high price tag, even considering the career year Santana just completed. It was high heading into this season, when Cleveland was prepping for a 162-game campaign.When MLB began discu sing an 82-game season sans fans, Santanas option suddenly looked like a cost-cutting bullseye. Still, another productive year, paired with his tenure in Cleveland, may have helped his cause.Now? 60 games to earn an eight-figure option during a season without ticket revenue?At first glance, the uphill battle Santana is now facing sure looks predetermined.Is it, though? Is there anything Clevelands longtime first baseman can do to convince the team to keep him for next season? Or is
Brad Wieck Jersey the upcoming campaign officially Santanas swan song with the Indians?The odds arent in his favor. At the same time, if you doubt Santanas ability to defy expectations, just look at what happened last season.While Tribe fans were happy to see Santana back in Cleveland, its tough to imagine anyone couldve predicted the results he put forth in 2019. He was coming off a rocky year with Philadelphia, and returned to the Indians only after first being traded to Seattle. With his prime behind him, it seemed fair to expect the usual from Santana -- a consistently strong OBP paired with above average power hitting.Instead, he became Clevelands 2019 MVP.While the Indians offense was stuck in neutral during the early months of the season, Santana was putting forth some of his best offensive numbers. By years end, he had logged career highs in runs (110), RBIs (93), slugging percentage (.515), OPS (.911), average exit velocity
Chicago Cubs Jersey (91.8), hard hit percentage (44.9%), and fWAR (4.4).Its impo sible to overstate how impre sive Santana was in 2019. At times, he was the teams sole source of offense. Cleveland spent the first half of the year staring at a wide distance between themselves and first place Minnesota, a gap which wouldve been canyon-sized were it not for Santana.Despite this, the list of things working against him when it comes to next years option remains lengthy.To start, Santana has to convince Cleveland he can replicate the kind of production he displayed last season. As a few months ago, this is something his career trends indicate may be a difficult task on its own.Its even tougher when he has 102 fewer games to work with. Tack on the fact he has a limited ramp-up period to prepare for this season and le s wiggle room to work out of any offensive funks, and you can see how time isnt doing Santana isnt doing any favors.Scroll to ContinueAgain, hes coming off a season in which he made defying odds his specialty. Still, even if Santana overcomes all of this, somehow impre sing even further in the coming
Cole Hamels Jersey months, is there any way Cleveland picking up his option becomes a realistic outcome?The teams recent offseason trends certainly cast doubt on that.Despite sitting within a window of contention, the Indians actively shed salary this previous winter. This occurred while a suming this year would feature 162 games of baseball with fans in the stands.Considering the lo ses Cleveland is now taking on, even a Herculean effort from Santana will do little to make that $17.5 million look like anything but easy costs to cut.The fact is Santana is staring at a deck which is startlingly stacked against him.The size of the option. His age. The financial hits Cleveland is enduring. Getting just 60 games to prove he's worth an eight-figure salary.All of it has combined to effectively paint the Indians into a corner when it comes to Santana. Its difficult to find any reason to believe 2020 isnt his farewell tour.Sure, considering all players are making prorated pay this summer, you could argue Cleveland is saving by not having to pay Santana the full $17.5 million he was owed in 2020. Unfortunately, this take is a bit of a
David Bote Jersey stretch.Without ticket revenue, the team as a whole faces significant lo ses this season. Even paying players 60 games worth of salary isnt going to alter that outcome.I will say, theres one glimmer of hope for Santana. In case the use of italics didnt indicate it enough, the word slight is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.Still, the 2021 free agency options at first base are weak, and the only in-house replacements Cleveland has right now are Jake Bauers and Bobby Bradley.Both players have areas of their respective games in need of improvement. Neither will get the minor league experience needed to change that this year.Its difficult to believe a summer of off-site training will be enough to ensure Bradley or Bauers is finally big-league ready. Would the team rather hang on to its long-time vet in order to avoid starting someone at first base despite their not being ready for it?Its worth considering, but Santanas price tag is still the loudest voice in the room here. It basically comes down to whether the Indians concern with Bauers or Bradley is high enough to make $17.5 million palatable.Considering the circumstances of this season, I
Rowan Wick Jersey m not sure that happens.You can never say never, especially when it comes to Santana. Still, right now it looks like theres not much he can do to convince Cleveland to pick up his option for next season.
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