Free agent first baseman Carlos Santana will turn 39 in April, but he’s not thinking of calling it a career anytime soon. Agent Ulises Cabrera of Octagon tells MLB.com’s Jon Morosi that Santana would like to play another three or four seasons before he considers retirement.
That’s an ambitious goal for any player approaching 40, but Santana’s recent play suggests he could have the longevity needed. The veteran switch-hitter signed a one-year, $5.25MM deal with the Twins last winter and delivered his best overall performance since 2019. Santana slumped through a dreadful first month of the season before finding his groove at the plate. He connected on his first homer on April 25, went on to homer in three straight games, and never looked back. Over his final 514 plate appearances, he slashed .253/.342/.460 (129 wRC+), boosting his season-long batting line to .238/.328/.420 in the process. He popped 23 home runs and hit 26 doubles in 594 plate appearances over 150 games.
Santana remained a tough strikeout, fanning in just 16.7% of his trips to the plate. His walk rate also remained plus, checking in at a stout 10.9%. He tormented left-handed pitching and was a roughly league-average bat against righties. Thriving on the short side of a platoon would be more problematic for a typically defensive limited first baseman, but Santana showed he’s far more than that. He took home a Gold Glove — surprisingly, the first of his career despite long rating as a plus defender at first base — and was credited with 8 Defensive Runs Saved and 14 Outs Above Average.
Overall, Santana was 14% better than average at the plate (by measure of wRC+) and excellent in the field. Baseball-Reference pegged his 2024 output at 2.5 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs was slightly more bullish at 3.0 WAR. Santana proved that he can still play at a high level, and while it’s not clear whether that’ll result in multi-year offers, his strong season and apparent desire to play into his 40s at least creates a slight possibility of a two-year pact.
As is the case with any free agent heading into his age-39 campaign, a one-year deal is the much likelier outcome. Santana likely played his way into a raise from last year’s modest salary, however. It helps that there are several clubs on the lookout for help at first base — the Astros, D-backs, Yankees, Nationals, Giants, and incumbent Twins potentially among them.