Phillies sign Carlos Santana: Fantasy Fallout
By Brad Kelly
The Phillies continue to add their ball club, inking Carlos Santana to a three-year deal. What is the fantasy fallout of the news?
The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the more active teams in free agency this winter and notched their biggest get yet with the signing of Carlos Santana. With an already exciting young core, what is the fantasy fallout of the deal?
Santana is in the midst of a solid career. While only being a career .249 hitter, he has amassed 174 HR, 236 SB, and a .810 OPS. In those leagues that reward OPS or OBP, Santana has performed at nearly a first round value.
After a slow start to the 2017 season, Santana posted a .259/23 HR/79 RBI/.818 OPS line. He also added 37 doubles, his highest total since 2013. As usual, Santana maintained a 14% BB rate compared to a tidy 13% K rate. That is his status quo, and he has not veered off from it.
Santana had no shortage of suitors, yet the Phillies seemingly did not stand out as a team that would be leading the race for him. But, they landed him with a $60 million deal.
From the Phillies perspective, adding a middle of the order on-base machine makes a ton of sense. The Phillies quietly now have one of the deeper and exciting lineups in baseball. If Cesar Hernandez is not dealt as Freddy Galvis was, the combination of he and Odubel Herrera in front of Santana, with mashers Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Altherr following him, poses a formidable core.
That does not even take into account Maikel Franco, nor the impressive Nick Williams either.
Things do get interesting in terms of how the Phillies position players. Santana has seen time at first, third, catcher, and in the outfield during his career. His catching days seemingly ended in 2014, as did him trying third base. He has shown to be well adequate enough to handle first base, meaning the Phillies will push Hoskins to left field.
But, that leaves Herrera, Williams, and Altherr, in competition for two spots. The most logical move is to have Herrera stay in center and maybe platoon Altherr and Williams. There is a ton of talent roaming out there, either way. For fantasy purposes, it would not do Altherr nor Williams any favors, yet the Phillies certainly want to get all of them on the field any way they can.
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In terms of Santana’s fantasy value, his already monster OPS numbers and the move to Philly bodes well for his 2018 outlook. Look for Santana to post somewhere near a, .255/25 HR/90 RBI/.850 OPS type of line. He once again deserves to be a mid-round selection in drafts this spring.