Sergio Santos

After two excellent seasons with the White Sox, Santos was traded to Toronto where his career hit the skids. He logged just 52 innings in three years with Toronto, including 21 horrible ones in 2014 as his skills completely cratered. He has dropped some velocity off of his fastball every season, down to 94-95 mph, which is still very good. However, the velocity is irrelevant if you have absolutely no command of the pitch. He allowed a disgusting 1.676 OPS on his fastball last year, including 10 doubles and five homers among the 23 hits allowed in 53 plate appearances. The slider remained strong for the most part, though he didn’t control it as well as normal. In the end, the struggles cost him his job, as he was designated for assignment in late August. The Dodgers rolled the dice on Santos with a minor league deal in January, giving him an opportunity to compete for a late-inning role as part of Andrew Friedman's rebuilt bullpen during spring training.

Santos missed most of 2013 with a shoulder injury but was highly effective once he joined the Jays in August. He posted a 1.75 ERA, a 9.8 K/9, and a 1.4 BB/9 over 25.2 innings, showing why Toronto sought him out as a closer. Of course, Casey Janssen is now locked in as the organization's closer, after Santos missed most of the last two seasons. That likely leaves Santos to handle an eighth-inning role, and he should be the next man up in the event that Janssen struggles or suffers an injury.

After coming to Toronto in a trade for Nestor Molina, Santos was immediately named the closer for the Blue Jays. The good news ended there as he only pitched five innings in 2012 and blew two saves before having season-ending shoulder surgery. Casey Janssen had a fantastic year filling in for Santos so it is unknown what his role will be next season, assuming that he's healthy enough to report to spring training in February.

Chris Sale and Matt Thornton started 2011 as the White Sox's top options for the ninth inning, but Santos grabbed the closer's role and ran with it. The converted shortstop struggled a bit in September (three home runs and a 9.35 ERA in 8.2 innings), but he converted 30 of his 36 save chances on the season, and he struck out 13.07 K/9IP. He handled the pressure of the closer role well, posting a .204 BAA and 42:15 K:BB in high-pressure situations, and he yielded a mere 0.815 WHIP on the road. Despite signing him to a long-term contract, the White Sox traded Santos to the Blue Jays in December, where he will get every opportunity to serve as the closer following a revolving door of blown saves from Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch in 2011.

Santos was not a pitcher until 2009 and only logged 28.2 innings in the minors that year, but a high-90s fastball caused the White Sox to add him to the 40-man roster in December 2009. He surprised most by making the 25-man roster after a very good spring, and surprised even more by not allowing a run in his first 12 major league appearances. Santos should be an important figure in the White Sox's late-game relief corps in 2011, and he should get a few more save opportunities with Bobby Jenks no longer in the picture.

Santos was demoted to Double-A after a poor start (.191/.204/.234) at Triple-A. While he hit for more power at Double-A, his overall numbers (.250/.325/.477) were poor. He seemed to find his stroke (.319/.337/.585) in limited action in the Arizona Fall League, but he'll need to show he can sustain it over a full season at Triple-A before he can be considered anything more than a bat off the bench in the majors.

Santos's star has faded considerably over the past few years, and his 2006 did nothing to change that. Acquired last December as part of the Troy Glaus-Orlando Hudson trade, Santos hit just .214/.254/.299 in a full season at Triple-A Syracuse. There's nothing at all here to like.

Just a year or so ago, Santos was considered by some to be the best prospect in Arizona's system. After a disappointing 2005 and big strides taken by others, no one's saying that anymore. With Stephen Drew in the system and Justin Upton coming soon, it's almost certain that the D-Backs will move Santos off the shortstop position in 2006. He'll likely repeat at Triple-A, this time learning to play either second or center. Santos still has the potential to play every day in the bigs, but both the ETA and eventual position he'll play are tough to guess right now.

Santos is one of the prime prospects in Arizona's farm system, and he'll likely start 2005 at Triple-A. He's come up as a shortstop so far, but there's continued talk that he'll be moved to either third base or the outfield. He'll turn just 22 on the Fourth of July, so he still has upside.

Maybe the best prospect in the Arizona chain after Chad Tracy and Scott Hairston, Santos wowed scouts in the AFL this fall. However, Santos still needs to work on his defense at short (he's committed 60 errors in first two years in the minors), as well as his plate discipline (47-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 63 games at Double-A and the AFL last year). He'll probably start 2004 back at Double-A, and the D-Backs hope Santos can slot in between Hairston and Tracy in the big league infield come 2006.

Santos, the Diamondbacks' number one pick in the 2002 draft, had a good year at the plate in his first pro season, hitting .272-9-37 in just 54 games of rookie league ball. However, he did not impress with the glove, committing 18 errors at shortstop in his first 30 games. Santos will turn 20 on the Fourth of July; his development will continue at Single-A in 2003, and he's still a good three years away from the majors at best.