Danny Santana

[William Malone]

Daniel Ernesto Santana was born on November 7, 1990 in the Dominican Republic.

The Minnesota Twins signed him as an international free agent in 2007. Baseball America ranked him as the Twins ninth best prospect entering 2014. Santana made his Major League debut in early May of that season.

Minnesota primarily used Santana as a backup infielder during his first few weeks on the big league roster. He was 15-for-40 (.375) at the plate to open his career, and the team began playing him out of position as a center fielder just to give him more at-bats. With Aaron Hicks struggling, Santana was the everyday center fielder by mid-June. He continued to produce at the plate, and even won American League Player of the Week for the week of August 18-24th. Santana finished his rookie season slashing .319/.353/.472 with seven home runs and 20 stolen bases. His seven triples were eighth in the American League.

Santana opened 2015 as the Twins lead-off hitter, and was back at his natural position of shortstop. Poor play saw him demoted to the lower third of the batting order by late April. Santana eventually lost the starting shortstop job to Eduardo Escobar, and spent chunks of the second half in Triple-A. He finished the year batting .215/.241/.291 with no home runs and eight stolen bases in 91 games.

Minnesota began 2016 with Santana as a utility man coming off the bench. He got starts at shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions throughout the season. His offense was somewhat improved, but still far off from his impressive rookie campaign. Santana began 2017 in a similar role, but was designated for assignment in early May.

He finished 2017 with the Atlanta Braves, and played for them in 2018 as well. Santana had a breakout year with the Texas Rangers in 2019, batting .283 with 28 home runs. This success was short lived, as he hit just .145 for Texas during the COVID shortened 2020 campaign. Santana spent 2021 as a bench bat for the Red Sox. He scored the series clinching walk-off run in game four of the 2021 ALDS, after entering as a pinch runner for Christian Vázquez.

Major League Baseball suspended Santana for 80-games due to a failed PED test during spring training in 2022. He was released by the Red Sox, but re-signed with them on a minor league deal after the suspension ended in July. Boston released Santana again after he appeared in just seven minor league games. He has not played in the Majors since. As of 2025, Santana is playing professionally in Mexico.

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