Carlos Santana is getting a 2010 fantasy baseball rookie post because I know people will ask about him. See, I’m psychic. BTW, I wouldn’t bring in the mail today. Just a bunch of bills and a 20% off coupon for Bed, Bath and Beyond. Carlos Santana is the catcher prospect the Dodgers traded to the Indians for Casey Blake. TMZ reported Jamie McCourt did the aforementioned trade because Carlos Santana looks eerily similar to Edward James Olmos, who was Frank McCourt’s reason for watching “every single, goddamn Miami Vice rerun.” Only later did Mrs. McCourt find out that that was the wrong Carlos Santana. At 23, Carlos Santana just finished up his best season in the minor leagues slashing .290/.413/.530 at Double-A. Showing solid plate discipline, he walked more times than he struckout. He knocked in 97 RBIs and hit 23 homers in 130 games and was named the 2009 Eastern League Most Valuable Player Award after winning the 2008 California League MVP. (Scouting the Unknown went over Carlos Santana’s minor league numbers in further detail.) So can Carlos Santana help you in 2010 fantasy baseball?
There’s no reason for the Indians to rush Santana. His defense is shoddy with a chance of meatballs. I don’t think we see him until June 1st at the earliest. If he breaks camp with the team, he’ll be a quality sleeper in mixed leagues, 12 or deeper. But really that’s only true because of his position. If he were in the outfield, I’d tell you to ignore him in mixed leagues. Best case scenario, 60/13/75/.280 in 400 at-bats. Actually, now that I write that down, that seems pretty implausible. (Sidenote: As with most of these rookie posts, I wrote them about a month ago then reread them to make sure they’re still, ya know, gold. Since I wrote this, Bill James’s projections have arrived. He has Santana down for 16 homers in 500 at-bats. Now that seems implausible.) If Santana starts the year in the minors, he should be ignored in all leagues, except AL-Only and keeper ones. In mixed leagues, you don’t want to hold an extra catcher for two months waiting for him to come up. If you think you do, ask someone who drafted Matt Wieters last year. Game, set, natch.
