Remember a couple weeks ago when Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey did a national media interview and said "we lost" Carlos Santana to free agency? Ah, the memories.
Falvey said exactly those words when talking about finding someone to play first base in 2025. A couple of days later there was a report that indicated the Twins were still interested in re-signing Santana, but the 38-year-old switch hitter who is fresh off winning his first career Gold Glove in 2024 with Minnesota has agreed to a deal to play for the Cleveland Guardians.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Twins were not among the eight teams that tried to sign Santana.
The Seattle Mariners, Santana's team in 2022, sought to reunite with him virtually the entire offseason, and were pushing for a resolution," Rosenthal reports. "Santana said both New York teams, Detroit and Arizona also were in the mix, while San Diego and Texas had asked him to wait."
Santana's departure now officially cemented means the Twins have to plug a hole at first base. Currently, the only logical MLB-ready players who can handle the position are Jose Miranda and Eddy Julien.
We'll see what happens in the next few months, but the Twins are nearing January and have yet to upgrade the roster in a meaningful way.