Indians Top 100 Prospects: #1 Carlos Santana

1. Carlos Santana - Catcher
Born: 04/08/1986 - Height: 5'11" - Weight: 190 - Bats: Switch - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2005	19	GCL Dodgers	R	32	78	14	23	4	1	1	14	16	8	0	.295	.412	.410	.822
2006	20	Ogden	R	37	132	31	40	5	1	7	27	30	19	4	.303	.423	.515	.938
	20	Vero Beach	A+	54	198	16	53	10	2	3	18	23	43	0	.268	.345	.384	.729
2007	21	Great Lakes	A	86	292	32	65	20	1	7	36	40	45	5	.223	.318	.370	.688
2008	22	Inland Emp	A+	99	350	88	113	34	4	14	96	69	59	7	.323	.431	.563	.994
		Kinston	A+	29	105	34	37	5	1	6	19	20	24	3	.352	.452	.590	1.042
		Akron	AA	2	8	3	1	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	.125	.125	.500	.625
		Career		339	1163	218	332	78	10	39	212	198	200	19	.285	.388	.470	.858

History:  Santana was an undrafted free agent signing by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the Dominican Republic in August 2004.  He was traded to the Indians along with John Meloan on July 25th for Casey Blake.  He was named the 2008 Carolina League MVP, and his announcement as the league MVP shows just how ridiculous his numbers were there prior to the Indians acquisition of him in the Blake deal.  Even though he spent the last six weeks of the season with the Indians at advanced Single-A Kinston in the Carolina League, he still finished 2nd in the California League in hitting (.323), 8th in doubles (34), 3rd in RBI (96), 5th in walks (69), 1st in on-base percentage (.431), 2nd in slugging percentage (.563), and 1st in OPS (.993). 

Strengths & Opportunities: Scouts view Santana as an everyday big-league catcher with excellent potential offensively and some upside defensively.  That ability to hit for a high average, hit with power, and exhibit outstanding plate discipline is what makes him such a special hitter.  Like incumbent Indians starting catcher Victor Martinez, he is a switch-hitter who has 20-25 home run power and is an RBI machine.  He has a great feel for the bat and strike zone, is a true hitter, and the ball just explodes off his bat.  There are just some guys who find the sweet part of the bat more often and he is one of them.  He is a competitor, and a very aggressive attack the ball kind of hitter.  He is a switch hitter at a premium position who is very athletic and has a lot of strength.  He is lean and not a very big guy as he only stands at 5'11" tall, but he is built like a Greek god and is very strong in his arms and wrists.  As he continues to grow into his body, the weight and more power will surely come, and he may even grow a few inches still. 

In addition to all of the production, Santana showed a very advanced approach at the plate last year as he drew 89 walks to only 85 strikeouts in 463 at bats.  What really shot his prospect stock up was after leaving the bandboxes in the notorious hitter friendly California League, he came to the pitch friendly confines of the Carolina League and was even better and did not skip a beat.  Also, unlike most first basemen and catchers, he has a good motor and can steal a base from time to time and is not a liability on the basepaths.  He is a smart runner, often getting good jumps going from first to third and second to home, which is how he scores so many runs.  His athleticism on the bases and behind the plate combined with his awesome abilities as a hitter and upside defensively makes him one heck of a talent the Indians were able to pry away from the Dodgers. 

Santana has been widely mentioned as just an offensive catcher, but he clearly has the work ethic and untapped talent to become a good defensive backstop.  He showcases excellent arm strength with a lightning bolt for an arm, which is no surprise as he is a former third baseman.  As a converted third baseman and outfielder, last season was only his second year playing the catching position, but he loves playing there and has grown into the position well by becoming more comfortable back there as the season went on.  He loves to throw the ball behind the plate, whether it be throwing out potential base-stealers or throwing behind runners on base. He has a great passion for catching and loves to take charge; he is a leader.  He has good hands, and is already at least an average receiver with the potential to become an above average receiver. 

The Indians love his arm strength behind the plate.  His throwing has not been much of a problem for him so far in his transition to catching, but his receiving skills behind the plate are still very much rough around the edges.  The Indians will continue to work with him to develop him behind the plate in receiving the ball, calling games, blocking balls, and throwing out runners.  If he has trouble adapting to catching in the higher levels, it is always possible the Indians may convert Santana back to third base or even put him in the outfield.  Either way, the bat will play somewhere.  But, at the moment he is 100% entrenched at the catching position and there are absolutely no plans to move him from out behind there. 

Outlook:  The Indians feel they got more than they thought they were getting when they acquired Santana, which of course is good for them.  He fills two needs in the organization in that he helps add talent to the catching position and also adds a big bat to the system.  With the injury to Matt McBride last year along with some inconsistent performances by Wyatt Toregas and Chris Gimenez, the Indians needed more high quality catching solutions.  Prior to his arrival, none of the catchers in the Indians system were viewed as impact caliber or everyday catchers except maybe McBride, but Santana could change all that with his bat.  Now that he is in the organization, he is already being considered Victor Martinez's eventual replacement at catcher in a year or two.  With Martinez struggling to stay healthy the past two seasons and a looming free agent after the 2010 season, a move of Martinez to first base full time down the road or his exit as a free agent after the 2010 season could pave the way for Santana to have the full time catching job in Cleveland at the start of 2011.  He will open the 2009 season at Double-A Akron. 

Photo courtesy of Carl Kline 

Carlos Santana MinorLeagueBaseball.com stats page 

Carlos Santana Baseball-Reference page 

Carlos Santana MinorLeagueSplits.com page 

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