With (literally) a ton of starting pitchers being moved around the league this week, a few notable names are still available for teams who are in need. One is right-hander Ervin Santana, who has picked up interest in the last few days.
Earlier this month, ESPN's Buster Olney reported Santana was seeking a five-year deal, which is aiming high for a fairly volatile starter. The 32-year-old has been in the MLB for 10 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves, during which he's compiled a 119-100 record with a 4.17 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. Over the past two seasons he's rejected qualifying offers in search of a long-term deal, but has yet to be successful.
However, now that trades and signings have occurred in excess over the past few days, the market for Santana is starting to perhaps blossom. The New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins are reportedly interested in him, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. In fact, Heyman writes the Twins are believed to be preparing a four-year, $50 million offer to the right-hander, which would essentially begin the bidding for him. Now that the market for starting pitchers is getting thinner, teams are starting to look at Santana, who could be fairly expensive and has draft pick compensation tied to him.
The Yankees are the latest team to hop in on the action. Their starting rotation is a big question mark since C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova are coming off season-ending surgeries, the health of Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda is pretty much up in the air, and Hiroki Kuroda has yet to decide if he is going to retire. New York also traded starter Shane Greene to the Detroit Tigers and lost Brandon McCarthy to the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency. However, McCarthy signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the Dodgers, so it's unclear how serious they are in pursuing Santana.
As for the Giants, they lost out on Jon Lester when he chose the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night and met with Santana a day later. Despite winning the World Series, their starting rotation is a bit of an issue as well. Sure, they have Madison Bumgarner and Tim Hudson as definite options for the starting rotation, but Matt Cain is coming off of elbow surgery, Tim Lincecum was moved to the bullpen, Ryan Vogelsong is likely departing via free agency, and Yusmeiro Petit, who is considered a starter on the depth chart, has never spent a full season in that role. They need a pitcher to make sure their rotation is complete for 2015.
In Kansas City, the Royals are expected to lose James Shields in free agency and they'll need to fill that void with another established starter. It's been said the two expressed mutual interest in a reunion, but not much has developed since.
UPDATE: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports writes Santana is heading to Minnesota on a four-year, $54 million deal.
