Phillies

Report: Carlos Santana, Others Involved in Jean Segura Trade

By Bob Wankel

Published: Dec 3rd, 2018 · 10:40 AM EST

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Some reports are emerging this morning that bring further clarification to the parameters of the deal that will apparently bring Jean Segura to the Phillies.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale checks in to confirm that Carlos Santana is, in fact, part of the package:

Carlos Santana, who is owed $35 million over the next two years, is definitely part of the Segura-Crawford deal with #Mariners and #Phillies. There are also other Major League players involved and one prospect.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 3, 2018

Nightengale also reports that newly-acquired Mariners reliever Anthony Swarzak, who has one year remaining on his deal at $8.5 million in 2019, is also part of the deal.

Update: Jayson Stark checks in and Swarzak is NOT part of deal:

Sources say Swarzak isn't part of this deal, but #Mariners are sending the #Phillies a veteran player who can help even out the money Seattle is taking on in Santana (2 years, $35M). https://t.co/egzqBFCIrV

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) December 3, 2018

Stay tuned on that front. Meanwhile, Stark says that Zach Eflin, Adonis Medina, and JoJo Romero are also not part of the deal, which would be huge win for Matt Klentak. All three players could be available in a future deal.

At any rate, the 33-year-old Swarzak has a 4.30 ERA over nine Major League seasons, and has an excellent 2.33 ERA in 2017, but struggled a year ago as he battled injuries between 29 appearances with the Mets, posting a 6.15 ERA and 5.48 FIP in 26.1 innings pitched. Of course, this may or may not matter, depending on whose sources you trust.

Assuming the deal gets to the finish line, Santana, the master of walks, one-hoppers to second base, and some really good fly balls that almost made it over the fence, finishes his lone season with the Phillies having hit only .229. That, of course, doesn’t tell the entire story – Santana did have a respectable .352 OBP thanks to the 110 walks he drew, but that didn’t exactly win over Phillies fans who couldn’t look beyond his average. In truth, Santana gave the Phillies numbers that were in the same neighborhood as his career norms, but he did have prolonged slumps and was a key contributor to an often inconsistent and dormant offense. Santana needed to be outstanding in the middle of a talent-depleted lineup, and when he wasn’t, he made for an easy target.

Santana’s inclusion in the deal also has ancillary benefits, including that it should pave the return of Rhys Hoskins to first base. To be fair, Hoskins worked his ass off to make the transition to left field, but his defense was downright brutal in 2018. According to FanGraphs, he posted a league-worst -24 defensive runs saved, which is, uh, not good.

As for Santana, let’s remember the good times:

If the reports are true, let me be the first to say I will have so many great memories of Carlos Santana in a Phillies uniform. Here’s one of them: pic.twitter.com/Sdj7mdd3JV

— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) December 3, 2018