2014 MLB Free Agency: 5 Potential Landing Spots for Ervin Santana
2014 MLB Free Agency: 5 Potential Landing Spots for Ervin Santana
The Kansas City Royals hit a lucky shot when they grabbed Ervin Santana for the final year of his contract. Santana had one of the best years of his career from a pitching-stats standpoint and even though his win total didn’t show it, he made himself one of the top free agent pitchers on the market. He certainly is going to be getting a rich enough contract that the Royals won’t get their wish of re-signing him. Who then will be able to meet Santana at his price?
One key thing to remember about Santana is that he has never really been a completely lights out starting pitcher. His 2013 ERA of 3.24 and WHIP of 1.142 are among the best numbers of his entire career. At the age of 30, his average ERA for a 162 game season is around 4.19 and that is a pretty decent indicator of what a team is bound to get during this new deal. I don’t mean to suggest that there is anything wrong with that, only that it will affect who is willing to risk signing him.
The team that goes after Santana will need to be willing to pay second-slot money to a starter who could give them the production of a third or fourth starter. He could give the new team ace-caliber stuff as well of course which is why he will get a hefty contract. The team that signs him will be willing to pay the larger deal even while risking him not matching his 2013 season once again. There is good news for Santana here however because there are plenty of teams willing to do that. Here are the ones I think coming in at the top five spots.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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5 – Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays like to deal in trades for the most part but this time around they might want to hang on to their best prospects and bring in someone of Santana’s potential through free agency. He would be still fairly young comparably for the Jays and they are pushing their payroll for the chance to win in 2014 anyway.
4 – Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are more than talking about making their team better in 2014; they actually plan to do it. Signing someone of Santana’s caliber could be right up their alley as long as they are willing to take the money risk assuming he will perform well in Coors Field.
3 – New York Mets
The Mets have money to spend and rotation spots to fill. Santana would be someone who could do a very good job in a pitcher’s park at Citi Field. A few years there could turn Santana into one of the top hurlers in the game.
2 – Seattle Mariners
The Mariners are probably going to continue to appear somewhat desperate during this offseason and while Santana is worth quite a lot more than to assume signing him is desperate, a team willing to be desperate would probably find his price easy. Don’t be surprised if the M’s fork over a ton of money to reel him in.
1 – New York Yankees
This is kind of obvious but the Yankees are willing to fork over money for good pitchers. They have needs to fill in that spot and Santana would probably be someone very attractive to their front office people. It wouldn’t be at all a surprise if Santana wound up in pinstripes.
