Rosenthal: Twins request Ervin Santana's medical records

[Parker Hageman]

Perhaps in the efforts of simply doing due diligence, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Twins were one of three teams to recently request free agent Ervin Santana's medical records.

 

Along with the Orioles and Yankees, the Twins reportedly were interested in the 31-year-old's records. Rosenthal quickly pointed out that Minnesota seemed like an unlikely landing spot considering there were three starters out of options (Vance Worley, Scott Diamond and Samuel Deduno) and one vacancy remaining in the rotation.

 

In general, Santana's injury history has been clean. In 2009 he battled some elbow/UCL issues that delayed his season into the month of May, but since then he has not missed any significant time.

 

UPDATE: As Darren Wolfson reported this evening, the Twins had requested Santana's medical records early in free agency and not recently, as Rosenthal tweeted earlier.

[Jdosen]

I don't think the Twins are a likely landing spot by any means for Santana or Matt Garza by any means, but if they were to decide to sign one of those guys, one would think Correia and his 1 year remaining would be the odd man out, no? It seems to me they'd just flip Correia for whatever they can get so as to not block Alex Meyer from his possibly mid-season call-up and so as to give Scott Diamond or Worley (whoever wins that 5th spot out of ST) some innings.

[clutterheart]

Ryan's going to trade one or two of these pitchers...right?

[DaveW]

Not a huge Ervin Santana fan, but if they can somehow get him on a 3 year reasonable deal, I would be all for it. However I think he ends up costing more than Nolasco. At this point, I'd prefer they go after a pseudo ace/#2 like Garza (or Bailey next season/trade this season) However, I wouldn't be against it as long as its a smart deal.

[Thrylos]

OK. Checked and double checked on this and it looks like an oops on Rosenthal's side. It did happen. The Twins did check Ervin Santana's records, but it did happen before Thanksgiving. Old news. Since then they signed 3 SPs.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Not a huge Ervin Santana fan, but if they can somehow get him on a 3 year reasonable deal, I would be all for it. However I think he ends up costing more than Nolasco. At this point, I'd prefer they go after a pseudo ace/#2 like Garza (or Bailey next season/trade this season) However, I wouldn't be against it as long as its a smart deal.

Moot point now with Wolfson's update, but how is Ervin Santana not a pseudo ace/#2 like Garza/Bailey? Outside of a 2012 HR spike and his 2009 injury, he's been pretty darn good throughout his career. And he's been an absolute workhorse -- not only making starts, but also multiple 220+ IP seasons.

 

Since 2008, Garza's got a 110 ERA+ versus Santana's 104, but Santana also has a 25 IP/season edge too. And of course they are going to cost more than Nolasco -- they have been far better pitchers than Nolasco.

 

To me, if one is willing to spend 4/48 plus a fifth year option on Nolasco, he's your best starter under contract, and you still have payroll flexibility, you absolutely have to be willing to spend 4/60 plus option or even 5/75 on Garza or Santana. It will be interesting to see what they settle upon, but I hope the Twins didn't just settle on Nolasco as their "big sign" because he was willing to sign early, or that they don't have a new "cap" of 4/48 on what they think is reasonable for any FA contract.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm actually glad the Twins passed on this one. This man has been so inconsistent in his career. He's also had quite a few injuries. Perhaps he finally figured it out, but I'm not sure I want my team handing him the 5 year contract and giving up the 2nd round pick to go with it.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Don't know if he was just trying to make his newscast more interesting, but I overheard Wolfson on the 9 PM news last night say that it was just "a few weeks ago" that they requested Ervin Santana's medical records, as evidence that the Twins are still active on the starting pitcher market. (Although I guess it was just 6 weeks ago that they signed Nolasco...)

 

He also re-iterated that they are "in contact" with the agents for Garza and Johan Santana.

[cmathewson]

Hey, look at that hot girl!

 

Update: it's a dude.

[tobi0040]

I'm actually glad the Twins passed on this one. This man has been so inconsistent in his career. He's also had quite a few injuries. Perhaps he finally figured it out, but I'm not sure I want my team handing him the 5 year contract and giving up the 2nd round pick to go with it.

 

I completely agree. Santana rotates an ERA of 3.50 with an ERA of 5.00 on and off year after year. Odds are we would be on the hook for a 5.00+ ERA two or three times and paying $16M a year for it (assuming he gets a five year deal).

 

I still think Santana, Garza, and Ubaldo are going to get large deals after Tanaka signs. Too much money and too many teams chasing a few guys.

[nicksaviking]

While he had the UCL issue in 2009, it never got repaired. I'm pretty sure it's still frayed or partially torn. Seems like a ticking time bomb.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I completely agree. Santana rotates an ERA of 3.50 with an ERA of 5.00 on and off year after year. Odds are we would be on the hook for a 5.00+ ERA two or three times and paying $16M a year for it (assuming he gets a five year deal).

 

Ervin Santana has posted a 5.00 ERA or higher in 3 out of 9 MLB seasons, so he's more like 2/3 good rather than 1/2. That said, a couple of those high ERA seasons are quite old now -- one of them was before Nolasco, Garza, or Jimenez had even pitched a full season in MLB. His trend is generally looking up -- 3 of his last 4 seasons are sub-4 ERA, with ~220 IP each of those seasons.

[Otto von Ballpark]

While he had the UCL issue in 2009, it never got repaired. I'm pretty sure it's still frayed or partially torn. Seems like a ticking time bomb.

 

It's been ticking a lot lately. 3 of his last 4 seasons have been ~220 IP type years, including last year. Garza and Nolasco have never touched that level (nor Pelfrey), and Jimenez did it twice back to back but followed up with his two worst MLB seasons.

[cmathewson]

It's been ticking a lot lately. 3 of his last 4 seasons have been ~220 IP type years, including last year. Garza and Nolasco have never touched that level (nor Pelfrey), and Jimenez did it twice back to back but followed up with his two worst MLB seasons.

 

I would add that he is small and stature and has a delivery reminiscent of Deduno.

[DJL44]

Health matters a lot to the Twins. They're rumored to be willing to give Garza the $$ but not the years.