On December 8, the Royals signed former Royals killer, first baseman Carlos Santana to a two-year deal worth $17.5 million. Many Royals fans know plenty about Carlos Santana when he was with the Indians from his two stints with the tribe. His first stint with the Cleveland organization began in 2005 when they acquired him from the Dodgers. Santana made his Indians debut in 2010 against the Nationals. Santana hit his first big league home run that same game. After his rookie season, he took off offensively in 2011 with 27 homers. His home run numbers dropped slightly in 2012 with 18. After a somewhat of a down year, Santana crushed the ball the next seven seasons between the Indians and the Phillies. Although Santana has great numbers against the Royals, I am not 100% confident that he will continue his power at Kauffman Stadium at the age of 35 when the season begins. I believe the Royals might have overpaid him. Let’s hope I am wrong about that. Not only does Santana have plenty of pop in his bat, he also plays a pretty solid first base. The Royals haven’t had a solid first baseman since Eric Hosmer in 2017. Although Santana is a solid defensive first baseman, I don’t expect him to play at first every game. I believe he will play designated hitter when he isn’t playing first base allowing Hunter Dozier to get some reps at first. I believe this is where Kelvin Gutiérrez comes into play. When Dozier plays first base or in the outfield, Gutiérrez can take the hot corner. I believe this Royals team will be a potential threat in the American League Central in 2021. However, I am not 100% confident that they will make the playoffs until their bullpen is in the top ten in the American League. Although I don’t think they will make the playoffs in 2021, I still think the Royals will have a great group of guys on the field.
