Giants: Pros and cons of signing slugger Domingo Santana

The San Francisco Giants remain in the market for a corner outfielder, and adding Domingo Santana would check off quite a few boxes for them.

Outfielder Domingo Santana was surprisingly non-tendered by the Seattle Mariners last month. That could be to the San Francisco Giants benefit as they continue to search for outfield help.

The Milwaukee Brewers shipped Santana to Seattle last offseason in exchange for fellow outfielder Ben Gamel and pitching prospect Noah Zavolas. That is the type of package the Giants could have easily matched.

It looked like a solid pickup by the Mariners when Santana posted a .286/.354/.496 line with 18 home runs and 63 RBI across 399 plate appearances in the first half of the season.

However, a bothersome elbow injury led to his offensive production cratering in the second half when he produced a .128/.234/.234 line in 108 plate appearances.

The 27-year-old was due for a raise in his second trip through arbitration this offseason, but his poor second half compelled the Mariners to part ways with him after just one season.

Here in the middle of January, he remains a free agent, and he could be a match for the Giants.

However, it is difficult to evaluate what direction the front office will go at this stage in the offseason.

With the departures of Will Smith to the Atlanta Braves and Madison Bumgarner to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Giants are officially beginning their rebuild. They could, theoretically, decide against bringing in another outfielder in favor of instead testing their organizational inventory in the outfield.

However, part of steering a rebuild is making moves that have positive short-term and medium-term benefits without sacrificing future payroll obligations or prospect capital.

Santana made $1.9 million last season, and he will likely not make much more than that in 2020, so his cost is relatively low.

Given his age, he could realistically be brought in to be a piece of the puzzle once the team’s competitive window reopens. The Giants might be a couple of years away from competing, and bringing in Santana fits that timeline.

With that being said, let’s take a look at what Santana brings to the table with a rundown of the pros and cons of adding him to the roster.