The MLB season is almost here and Ervin Santana still remains a free agent on the market and as teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners show interest in the free agent pitcher, he remains unsigned and after firing his agent, the former Royals starter is looking to get into camp with a team before the schedule begins.
Santana came into the offseason looking for a long term contract worth upwards of $100 million, but with Masahiro Tanaka taking the big bucks and teams unwilling to part with a draft pick, Santana did not get into the bidding war he was looking for. The Royals gave Santana a qualifying offer and that means any team that signs him has to give them a draft pick and that pushed many of the clubs interested in him away for the time being and now that could continue into the season in 2014.
Santana has been frustrated by the lack of a deal and as all that went on, teams signed the other pitchers on the market, including Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Bronson Arroyo and now Santana is the last man standing. The Mariners and Blue Jays have been mentioned as teams that could be interested in the free agent pitcher, while CBS Sports is now reporting that the Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers are other teams that have been in "contact" with Santana and could be one of the teams that steps up to try and sign him.
CBS Sports has reported that the Orioles would be willing to sign Santana and they are just waiting for his price to go down, as they would only have to give up a third round pick as compensation. The team signed Jimenez and Nelson Cruz despite the draft compensation and now Santana could be next and it comes as the team signed Johan Santana to a minor league deal that eventually could be worth $8.05 million depending on what he does and if he makes it to the majors.
The Blue Jays have long been connected to Santana and the Mariners interest comes after injuries to Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker and while Walker is back to throwing, he may not be ready to start the season in the rotation. Robinson Cano has already stumped for the Mariners to sign Santana, but they may not be willing to part with the draft pick to do it.
Santana comes into free agency after going 9-10 last season with 161 strikeouts and a sub 3.30 ERA and he also had his career best numbers with his ERA and 23 quality starts and that is why many felt he would be signed by now. Over the past six seasons he has been under 4.00 ERA and now he has the chance to move to another team and the big question is whether or not it will be before the season begins. The Mariners shelled out $240 million for Cano and now they may need to push out a bit more to get things done this season.
Also, Ervin fired his agent.
