Ervin Santana signed a one-year, $14.1 million deal with the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.
Santana went 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 161 strikeouts in 211 innings last season for the Royals. He didn’t get the long-term deal he was hoping for, but landed a nice payday and has one season to build up his value before another crack at free agency.
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Santana was rumored to land in Toronto, but Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos claims he didn’t want to pitch in the American League. "We're in the American League," Anthopoulos said during an appearance on Sportsnet 590 radio in Toronto. "Guys that don't want to be in the American League, there's nothing we can do."
Anthopoulos sounds bitter, as Santana has spent his entire career in the American League. In addition, pitching in the NL East should be remarkably friendlier on Santana’s stats than, say, facing the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles and Rays on a regular basis. If Santana wants to land a multi-season deal before 2015, he made the correct decision.
For fantasy purposes, Santana’s value gets a nice boost with the move to the NL. In CBSSports.com fantasy league, Santana’s average draft position is No. 172 overall. Now that he finally picked his new home, he should come off the board significantly earlier than that.
Critics will say that Santana should be avoided because he missed the beginning of Spring Training and will be a few weeks behind other starters. But I’ve always been a big fan of Santana’s stuff and his new home, combined with a contract year, could lead to a career-best season. You can expect 12-15 wins with 160-plus strike outs and an ERA and WHIP similar to what Santana posted last season.
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