Before he swung a bat, took the field or even said anything on Zoom, Carlos Santana gave a quick preview of something he is going to bring to the 2023 Pirates.
He started dancing.
As his introductory Zoom was set up Tuesday afternoon, the veteran first baseman swayed in the background, bouncing a bit while waiting to get started.
que lo queee 🤪 pic.twitter.com/sQ114L4IR1
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) November 29, 2022
"That's a me thing,” Santana said over Zoom Tuesday via interpreter Melissa Strozza. “I'm a happy person, I love to dance. So you're going to see me dancing, you're going to see me trying to get people dancing."
Santana’s love of dance – and his ability to get his teammates to join in – was one of the things that helped bond last year’s Mariners team that snapped a decades-long playoff drought. He was a veteran for a young team, and his midseason acquisition helped bring the group together.
A 13-year veteran, Santana is coming into a very similar situation in Pittsburgh. The Pirates were the youngest team in the National League last year, per Baseball Reference, and they are set to graduate many of their top prospects to the majors at some point in 2023. The benefits of having an experienced player with 1,533 career hits and 278 home runs in the clubhouse is apparent.
“I have a lot of years of baseball under my belt,” Santana said. “Looking forward to bringing that experience here. These young guys here, there’s a lot of talent. There’s a lot of potential. I’ve been in this situation before. I’ve been in a clubhouse with a lot of young talent. I can bring my experience and be there for them.”
On Tuesday, the Pirates officially announced they had signed the 36-year-old first baseman to a one-year, $6.725 million contract, the largest free agent signing they’ve made in the Ben Cherington era.
Fixing the holes at first base and designated hitter were top priorities for the club this offseason, and Santana was a logical target because he addressed a need in the lineup and the clubhouse.
"The Pirates took charge and showed so much interest in me that it really made it key for me to want to take a look back and join this organization and represent them,” Santana said.
"He was a player we had targeted from the outset of the offseason," Cherington said over Zoom Tuesday. "As we did that and did our due diligence we just came to understand and got a lot of feedback about him as a person, as a teammate about his as well from a lot of different sources that was a kind of added layer of benefit on top of who he is as a player. So yeah we're looking forward to welcoming him to our team, our clubhouse."
Joining the Pirates also means that Santana will reunite with his first major-league hitting coach, Derek Shelton.
“He was a fantastic person to work with at that time,” Santana said. “Sometimes people change as their positions change. I’m so glad to hear nothing but good things about Derek from everyone I talk to — veteran players who have known him throughout his career. It feels really good to be here again reunited with him and working with him because I’ve heard nothing but good things about Derek.”
Santana is coming off a season where he posted strong hitting peripherals, but finished with a modest .202 batting average, .692 OPS and 100 OPS+. His expected statistics suggest he was unlucky, and he should get a boost next year now that the league has implemented infield shift rules. Santana is a switch-hitter, and he saw a shift in 98.3% of his plate appearances when he batted left-handed. That was the highest rate in baseball.
“You could look back at the last two or three seasons, and you could see I’m probably one of the players most affected by a shift,” Santana said. “I think now that it will be banned, it’s going to help me greatly getting on base.”
After splitting time between first base and designated hitter the past two years, the 36-year-old Santana doesn’t have a preference between playing first or being the designated hitter. He’s going to go where the team tells him to go.
A month ago, it would have clearly been first base, but the Pirates have also acquired Ji-Man Choi from the Rays and picked up Lewin Díaz off waivers this month. Choi is viewed internally as a plus fielder, and Díaz was graded as one of the best in baseball last season.
Cherington said it will be up to Shelton to make the lineup cards, and that he sees both Choi and Santana at first.
If Santana is at first base, he is preparing for what shortstop Oneil Cruz has to offer.
“I may need to go out and find a new glove because [of] Oneil's arm.,” Santana joked. “Looks like he can throw with a bit of strength.”
With Santana and Choi now on the roster, the Pirates have a couple of quality options for first base, which was their most glaring hole coming into the offseason. There is still more to come this winter, which should including starting pitching as well as possibly the outfield, middle infield and bullpen.
"There’s more we’d like to do," Cherington said. "I think it’s more about wanting to improve in 2023 and take a step as a team. We think it’s time to put our effort into doing that. We’ve got some flexibility to do that."
