Carlos Santana headed to Guards on 1-year deal (source)

First baseman Carlos Santana and the Cleveland Guardians are in agreement on a one-year, $12 million contract, pending physical, as source tells MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the signing.

Even at age 38, Santana was a valuable player at the plate and in the field while suiting up for the Twins in 150 games last season. He hit 23 home runs for the second consecutive year and produced a 114 wRC+, his best mark since his 2019 All-Star campaign.

Defensively, Santana accrued a career-high 14 outs above average at first base, the most by any player at the position.

Santana also retained his consistently stellar plate discipline. His strikeout rate was less than 20% for the 13th straight season. His walk rate (10.9%) has never fallen out of double digits throughout his 15-year career, and his 23.4% chase rate was well below the MLB average (28.5%).

Since debuting with Cleveland in 2010, Santana has played in 2,080 regular-season games, making him one of three active big leaguers who have appeared in at least 2,000 games; the other two are Andrew McCutchen (2,127) and Freddie Freeman (2,032). Santana owns a .242/.354/.431 career slash line with 1,789 hits, 324 homers and 1,082 RBIs.

After spending 10 of his first 11 seasons in Cleveland, Santana has played for five franchises since the start of 2021 (Royals, Mariners, Pirates, Brewers, Twins). But he has been a consistent mid-level power threat whenever he’s landed, launching at least 18 dingers each year since 2011 and topping 20 homers nine times. His best season came in ‘19, when he hit 34 homers and had a 138 wRC+.