Opposition Research: Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana has heated up lately Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty ImagesHeading into the 2018 season, the Phillies wanted to show that they were ready to put their long rebuilding process behind them. Instead of the bargain bin free agent signings the team had been making the past few seasons, general manager Matt Klentak spent actual money on established players like Jake Arrieta, Pat Neshek, and Carlos Santana.

(These didn’t turn out to be great moves. Last year, I retroactively reviewed the Phillies’ 2018 offseason, and the D grade I awarded them might have been too generous.)

The Santana acquisition felt like a direct rebuke of the previous general manager. Ruben Amaro famously said that…