The 39-year-old veteran was released by the Guardians last week in what president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti described to reporters (including MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins) as a “joint decision” to allow Santana to pursue a shot at the postseason with another club while affording more playing time to younger first base options in Cleveland like Kyle Manzardo and rookie C.J. Kayfus. That opportunity to play in the postseason will now come via Chicago, where the Cubs currently occupy the first of three NL Wild Card spots with a 78-58 record and have a 99.9% chance of making the postseason according to Fangraphs.
Santana is something of a curious fit for a Cubs team that already has both Michael Busch and Justin Turner on the roster as players limited to first base and DH. The veteran switch-hitter has struggled at the plate in 116 games this year, with a slash line of just .225/.316/.333 (86 wRC+) across 455 plate appearances. While he’s still taking walks at a strong 11.3% clip, Santana’s power has mostly disappeared and his 18.9% strikeout rate this year is the highest it’s been since his first full season as a big league player all the way back in 2011.