Tommy Gilligan USA TODAY Sports
Ervin Santana got a lot of financial security by signing a four-year, $55 million contract with the Minnesota Twins in December, and the team needed a reliable and durable starter of precisely his ilk.
But Santana did not even make it to Opening Day unscathed. Surprising news surfaced Friday afternoon that he has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for Stanozolol, a steroid that is obviously banned by major league baseball.
As expected, Santana has expressed regret and frustration about his suspension. In a statement, he said he does not know how the substance got into his body and would never knowingly take anything illegal to enhance his performance. The next time an athlete acknowledges that he or she willfully took a banned substance, before years have passed and their career is done, will be the first time. So Santana’s words and excuses ring hollow, even though we knew a full admission of his guilt was not coming.
The Twins will not have to pay Santana while he serves what is basically a half-season suspension, but they are still tied to him for $40.5 million over the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons with a $14 million option for 2019 after that. The sheer size of the deal makes Santana untradeable, and it’s unlikely the Twins could simply cut ties without any major financial repercussions.
If Santana were pitching for a coveted long-term contract, like he was in 2014 with the Atlanta Braves as he went 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA over 31 starts (196 innings), this misstep with a performance-enhancing substance would be understandable on some level. But Santana had a multi-year deal with good guaranteed money in-hand, and yet still wound up submitting a positive test for a steroid before he ever threw a meaningful pitch for the Twins.
Santana will have a chance to redeem himself on the field, but his reputation is now permanently stained. A startling lack of awareness or a deliberate attempt to skirt the rules, Santana is now among the baseball players we’ll never see in quite the same way after a PED suspension. He was past the point where he had to even consider taking any chances with the rest of his career, so whatever further reward Santana thought he could get was not worth even entertaining the idea of performance-enhancing drugs.
Brad Berreman is a Columnist and Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
