Yankees: Abandoned offseason moves that could’ve saved NYY’s 2021 roster

2. Carlos Santana

The Kansas City Royals surprised us all in the month of April. Though they’ve come back down to earth, they’re still a solid squad, and it’s thanks to the shrewd moves their front office made this offseason — one of which was signing Carlos Santana to a two-year, $17.5 million contract.

He’s a switch-hitter, an on-base machine, and an iron man. Sounds like an asset the Yankees could use for under $9 million per year, right? Why sign a proven commodity though when you can just toss a few million at Jay Bruce so he could retire after a couple weeks or continue forcing Mike Ford on everyone? All the while knowing Luke Voit is a ticking injury time bomb.

Santana has played in at least 152 games for seven out of his eight seasons before the shortened 2020 campaign. That year, he played in all 60 games. In 2021, he’s slashing .251/.387/.441 with 33 runs scored, 10 home runs and 34 RBI through 53 games.

He’s not the best defender in the world, but he can play first and third base, which would’ve given the Yankees some versatility in the event of injures, which, again, happen in excess every year. Perhaps he wanted to be a starter, which is why he signed with the Royals. Then again, if a championship-caliber team approached him and guaranteed he’d appear in 120 games, don’t you think that could’ve changed his mind?

Another miss here. And again, all of the numbers were right in front of you.