Ervin Santana: what the heck is going on?

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Free agent starting pitcher Ervin Santana still does not have a team. For much of the off-season he remained steadfast in his demands for a four year, $50 million deal similar to that given to Ubaldo Jimenez by the Baltimore Orioles. It was thought that if he were to lower that asking price in terms of money and years, more teams might swoop back into the conversation.

The Colorado Rockies were considered to potentially be one of those potentially swooping teams.

Fast forward to Saturday and a flurry of activity regarding Santana. It started with reports this morning that Santana had dropped his demands to a one year deal. That opened the door for a number of teams to get serious about signing him, including the Rockies, the Orioles, and the Toronto Blue Jays. The one-year offers were rumored to be hanging around the $14 million range.

If nothing else, we got to seriously ask the question: will the Rockies actually sign a big ticket free agent? And a starting pitcher, to boot? On the surface it is an exciting prospect; the Rockies already have a sneaky good starting rotation, and inserting Santana would only make it that much better. It would also give strong indications that the front office wants to win right now and will make the moves to do so.

The case against signing Santana, one I’ve made here, includes the dollars (though the one-year deal makes a big difference), the compensatory draft pick, and the fact that prior to last season Santana surrendered a fly ball percentage that would be downright disastrous in Coors Field if he reverted back to those old ways.

There are reasonable arguments to be made both ways. Whether you are for it or against it, though, it is undeniably exciting to think of the Rockies making a bold move like that. If nothing else, these rumors were interesting and fun to consider.

To provide the latest update, it sounds like the Rockies probably will not sign Santana. That’s not to say that things are terribly clear about his situation. Indications were that he would sign with the Toronto Blue Jays, but now Enrique Rojas of ESPN reports that Santana is weighing deals from Toronto and Baltimore.

Either way it sounds like the Rockies are not a serious player at this point. But hey, it was intriguing while it lasted, eh?