Proposal: Shane Bieber for Santana

[Humans Need Water]

Young kid coming off a great season at age 24.... looking like he is set for a nice long career here in Milwaukee. Then in one day he lost all that with Yelich & Cain. You have to wonder what that does to confidence of a younger kid. Still was getting good amount of at bats but didn’t look like same player.

 

Like Segura, Gennett, and etc.... sometimes that change of scenery & getting that confidence back is all you need. Kid has yet to even hit prime yet & has already flashed hints of what he could be. He is not a junk player with no value. Not at all. Some team will be getting a very good player

YEP. His 2016 was riddled with injuries and when he finally was healthy at the end of the year he killed it. Then he killed it in 2017 then he became a 4th OF due to Cain/Yelich. He's never been in a bench role. It's a different mentality/approach and that's on top of how he was affected mentally due to the trade after the production he's put up.

 

I think people also need to look at what Santana actually did in 2018 instead of saying it was junk. He didn't hit for power in April but the first half of the month he was still hitting around 280 BA / 350 OBP then struggled the second half of April. In May he slashed 292/346/846. Now, he played a good amount both of those months due to Braun and Yelich DL stints while also hitting well so was staying in the lineup. Then in June he was given 4 starts over the first 3wks because everyone was back and healthy then he was put in AAA to play full time because he was junk as a pinch hitter (a role he's never been in until that point). Had a very good AAA then came up in Sept/Oct killing it off the bench.

 

This kid can bang but needs an every day opportunity and for a cheap 3yrs an AL team should be all over him (given they also have the DH), especially the Indians who have a worthless OF right now and a gaping hole in the 5 spot.