There’s a new sheriff in town at first base for the Cleveland Guardians.
Guardians acquire star defender Carlos Santana for 1B role
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Guardians signed first baseman Carlos Santana to a one-year, $12 million deal (h/t USA Today’s Bob Nightengale).
Santana is a 15-year MLB veteran who has played for Cleveland twice before agreeing to his most recent deal. The 38-year-old achieved a major career milestone in 2024, as he won his first-ever Gold Glove Award. The Dominican-American talent upped the ante on defense last season. He played an American League-leading 146 games at first base, where he sported a brilliant .996 fielding percentage behind an AL-best 92 assists to only four errors committed.
Santana to replace former Guardians All-Star Josh Naylor
Santana will now bring his elite defensive skills to a Guardians team that just traded away their 2024 All-Star 1B Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, per Passan. The latter was a sparkplug bat for the franchise, as he smacked 31 home runs and drove in 108 RBIs on the previous campaign. Cleveland won’t have to worry about compromising too much at the plate, as the former 2019 All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner Santana hit 23 home runs in 2024 and has been known for his ability to put baseballs past the outfield wall throughout his career.
Santana is an older, and slightly less impactful hitter than Naylor at this juncture of his career. Nevertheless, the Guardians have made a significant upgrade on defense while still having a slugger capable of hitting for power and moving runners along the bags, as seen with his respectable 71 RBIs last season.
