{"id":11578,"date":"2024-12-17T00:41:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T00:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11578"},"modified":"2024-12-17T00:41:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T00:41:57","slug":"yankees-linked-to-signing-former-34-home-run-slugger-to-replace-rizzo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11578","title":{"rendered":"Yankees\u2019 Linked to Signing Former 34-Home Run Slugger to Replace Rizzo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2171579387-e1734376614195.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"New York Yankees\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Yankees linked to Carlos Santana<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0have a need at first base after letting Anthony Rizzo hit free agency.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/new-york-yankees\/yankees-decision-rizzo-free-agent\/\">declined their option<\/a>\u00a0on Rizzo and since then, New York has yet to make an addition to the lineup. But, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported on X that the Yankees are interested in signing Carlos Santana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStill a $ gap in Bellinger trade talk with Yankees and Cubs as of this minute. It\u2019s a matter of \u201cwho blinks first,\u201d if ever. Still could happen but Yanks also considering Alonso, Walker, C. Santana, J. Naylor, N. Lowe, probably others,\u201d Heyman wrote on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JonHeyman\/status\/1868334539581386863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Santana is hoping to play multiple more seasons, but will likely sign a one or two-year in free agency.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024 with the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/minnesota-twins\/\">Minnesota Twins<\/a>, Santana<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/player\/carlos-santana-467793\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">\u00a0hit .238 with 23 home runs and 71 RBIs.<\/a>\u00a0Santana is a former 34-home run slugger who has a career-high of 113 RBIs.<\/p>\n<h2>Analyst Explains Why Santana Fits Yankees<\/h2>\n<p>Following Heyman\u2019s report, Mark Polichuk of MLBTradeRumors writes that Santana is a good option for New York.<\/p>\n<p>Santana would be a cheap one or two-year option for the Yankees at first base. He also would add power to the lineup, and his defense at first base won him a Gold Glove in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSigning Santana would be the most straightforward and cost-effective move of the bunch,\u201d Polischuk\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2024\/12\/latest-on-yankees-first-base-search.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cSantana will almost surely require just a one-year guarantee because he is entering his age-39 season.\u00a0 Despite his age, Santana rebounded from a few middling seasons to post a .238\/.328\/.420 slash line and 23 home runs for the Twins over 594 plate appearances in 2024, while also winning the AL Gold Glove at first base.\u00a0 The combination of offense and defense translated to 3.0 fWAR for Santana, the third-highest of his 15 Major League seasons.<\/p>\n<p>This production will merit Santana a raise on the $5.25MM he received in his one-year deal with Minnesota last winter, but concerns over his age and possible regression will probably limit his salary.\u00a0 Signing Santana would also be a relatively low-upside play, whereas trading for Naylor or Lowe represents a higher ceiling for production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Santana has been linked to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mlb\/seattle-mariners\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Seattle Mariners<\/a> in free agency. But, with the Yankees, the slugging first baseman has a chance to be a middle-of-the-order bat on a World Series contender.<\/p>\n<h2>New York Has no Plans to Bring Rizzo Back<\/h2>\n<p>The Yankees declined its player option on Rizzo, but New York didn\u2019t rule out bringing him back.<\/p>\n<p>However, according to\u00a0YES Network\u2019s Jack Curry, the Yankees have \u201cno plans\u201d of bringing Rizzo back.<\/p>\n<p>Rizzo had a $17 million option in 2025 which the Yankees\u2019 declined. The first baseman battled injuries in 2024 but he wanted to remain with the Yankees.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love playing here, I love being a Yankee,\u201d Rizzo\u00a0said. \u201cI love what comes with it, I love the standard that has been set here from all the generations, the great Yankees in the past. Yeah, this could very well be (the end of his Yankees tenure). I\u2019m a realist. I\u2019m not naive to it. But I think all that will shape out when the time is right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rizzo\u00a0hit .228 with 8 home runs and 35 RBIs\u00a0as he played in just 92 games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yankees linked to Carlos Santana The\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0have a need at first base after letting Anthony Rizzo hit free agency. The Yankees\u00a0declined their option\u00a0on Rizzo and since&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yankees\u2019 Linked to Signing Former 34-Home Run Slugger to Replace Rizzo - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=11578\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees\u2019 Linked to Signing Former 34-Home Run Slugger to Replace Rizzo - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yankees linked to Carlos Santana The\u00a0New York Yankees\u00a0have a need at first base after letting Anthony Rizzo hit free agency. 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