The Diamondbacks filled another spot on the roster, with the news this afternoon that the team will be signing first baseman Carlos Santana. According to John Gambadoro, the deal is a one-year one, worth approximately $2 million. Santana certainly brings experience, turning 40 in April. He was originally signed by the Dodgers in 2004 – the youngest man on our 40-man roster, Jose Fernandez, hadn’t even reached his first birthday at that point – and reached the majors in 2010. Since then, he has accumulated
over twenty-two hundred games, and the Diamondbacks will be the ninth franchise for which Santana has played.
Santana is likely here more for his defense than his offense. He’s a switch-hitter, though both historically and last year, has typically hit left-handed pitching a little better. In 2025 though, that was still comfortably below a .700 OPS against both types. But his defense still seems to measure up well, and he’s going to be a good veteran presence in the clubhouse. Potential long-term occupant of the position, Tyler Locklear, could learn a lot from Santana, when Locklear comes back from injury. Given the defense-based basis for the veteran’s presence on the roster, I imagine he will be playing at first on Opening Day, potentially moving Pavin Smith to DH, though some platooning is possible.
This does likely also put an end to the possibility of Paul Goldschmidt returning to the Diamondbacks. This always seemed like a bit of a long shot, with Goldy looking for a full-time job, and probably also outside of the team’s price range. Santana is a relatively cheap signing in comparison, although is probably not the one you would expect from a team with genuine aspirations at contention in 2025. There will need to be a 40-man spot opened up for him, but with the number of players the team has on the IL, I don’t foresee that as being any kind of a problem.
