Christian Walker signing a three-year $60 million deal with the Houston Astros is a killer for the New York Yankees, who could have desperately used a power-hitting infielder like him. While there’s nothing they can do to go back and sign him, they can move forward to make a move and secure a stable starting option at first base for the 2025 season. Carlos Santana, who had a resurgent season with the Minnesota Twins last year, could be a low-cost solution that provides the infield with a reliable defender and gives the Bronx Bombers another HR threat for the middle of their order.
With a swing tailor-made for Yankee Stadium and splits that mesh well with youngster Ben Rice, this could be the perfect veteran addition to this offense.
How Carlos Santana Found His All-Star Form Again in 2024
If you asked a Twins fan in mid-April how they felt about Carlos Santana, I doubt they would have many nice words to say. Through his first 20 games, the veteran switch-hitter posted a 19 wRC+ with just one home run as he was struggling to square up the ball, hitting groundballs at a 45.3% clip and looking completely and utterly washed.
As Carlos Santana took what was presumed to be his final at-bat of the game on April 25th, he stepped up to the plate with zero home runs and just two doubles to his name on the season. He could have continued to chalk up his poor play early on to just an April slump, but instead, he made an in-game adjustment to the way he loaded at the plate:
So what did Carlos Santana do in the at-bat where he changed his load mechanics? He took a first-pitch ball, then on the very first strike he saw, he drilled a sweeper 400 feet into the right field seats for his first trip around the bases in a Twins uniform. It would spark a stretch where he would post a 129 wRC+ and .460 SLG% over his final 130 games, proving to be the exact kind of bat Minnesota needed in the middle of their lineup.
While they failed to make the postseason, bringing Carlos Santana’s season to an end in September, the progress he made at the plate completely changed the trajectory of his career. A veteran who looked ticketed for retirement in April, Santana had posted a 3.0 fWAR and 114 wRC+ on the season, as the strides in the power department down the stretch should entice any team with a need at first base.
The main concern I would have with an older hitter pulling the ball more all of a sudden would be a shift in their contact rates or chase rates. When a hitter is in the decline, they may decide to sell out for power and leave themselves vulnerable to pitches out of the zone, making earlier swing decisions to try and catch up to heat or pull a hanging breaking ball out of the yard.
In the case of Carlos Santana, his plate discipline improved as did his contact rates, allowing him to remain an OBP threat while launching the ball out of the yard. The Yankees would love to add a switch-hitter with serious pull-side power, and the numbers would suggest that he could enjoy spending 50% of his season in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium has the best wOBA on pulled flyballs for left-handed batters since 2015, which would be music to Santana’s ears.
With these new adjustments made, Carlos Santana has positioned himself to be an attractive name on the free agent market, and his fit with the Yankees would be perfect.
Is Carlos Santana A Needle-Mover For the Yankees?
The Yankees are not going to replace Juan Soto’s production at the plate, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make sizable upgrades at positions that they struggled at last season. They produced a negative WAR at first base last season, Carlos Santana being a league-average hitter with a solid glove would immediately be a massive improvement. The way that he generates offense would be extremely valuable to the Yankees as well, being a home-run hitter with brilliant patience.
Right now the Yankees just need as many above-average bats as they can get, and Santana could provide them with a low-cost option who can give them a 110 wRC+ with 20+ homers next year. Furthermore, he provides the defensive value that the Yankees are looking for in the infield after signing Max Fired, as he won the AL Gold Glove at first base thanks to his brilliant +14 Defensive Runs Saved.
People will point to his age to say the Yankees need players who are younger and more athletic, but even the youngest first baseman in the AL couldn’t make the plays that Santana did. There’s a reason he was tied with Christian Walker for fifth in fWAR among first basemen this past season (3.0), and with his excellent launch and spray angles, he could have quite a year in pinstripes.
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When you overlay Carlos Santana’s spray chart over Yankee Stadium, there are a few drives to right field that stand out as porch jobs. The Yankees might be able to help Santana’s power play even better than it did last season, and given their lack of a leadoff hitter, he could kill two birds with one stone. A .328 OBP isn’t groundbreakingly high, but Santana’s ability to work walks and take pitches out of zone could be valuable atop the Yankees’ lineup.
He has never posted a walk rate below 10.5% in his big-league career, and in front of Aaron Judge, he could be the benefactor of some early-count fastballs. The on-field fit seems pretty obvious, even if he’s an older player he hasn’t shown a decline in any of his core skills just yet. Santana even set a new high in exit velocity, hitting a ball at 113.6 MPH for his 20th homer of the season in September.
When you look at what Santana brings off of the diamond, he could be a valuable mentor for Ben Rice, who could win the first base job if the veteran stumbles. Not only is Carlos Santana a veteran who has been in the league for a while, but he’s also a catcher who converted to first base early in his career. It can’t hurt for Ben Rice, who speaks Spanish incredibly well, to learn from someone who went from a butcher behind the dish to a Gold Glover at first.
A lot is said about Paul Goldschmidt and how he can crush left-handed pitching in a platoon role with Ben Rice, but no one really mentions that Carlos Santana is a southpaw’s worst nightmare. Santana posted a 161 wRC+ and .393 OBP in matchups against lefties this season, making him an even better platoon option with Rice since he put up better numbers in those scenarios this past year.
Rice is a high-upside hitter who has the tools to become a quality hitter at the Major League level, but the Yankees shouldn’t put him in a situation where he’s immediately platooning with a veteran. Carlos Santana could platoon with him if needed, but if the veteran is cruising then the Yankees can keep him there all season and be happy with the power and OBP they’ve added to the lineup.
He may not have an MVP in his back pocket or be on his way into the Hall of Fame, but Carlos Santana made serious strides last year and displayed the exact kind of skillset that the Yankees yearn for at first base.