White Sox lock up Santos for three years
Sergio Santos had a nice year for the White Sox.
In just his third professional season as a pitcher after originally playing shortstop, Santos became the Sox' closer in May and finished with 30 saves, the eighth-highest total in the American League.
The 28-year-old reliever also ranked second among AL relievers with 92 strikeouts, third in strikeouts per 9 innings (13.07), sixth in batting average against (.181) and eighth in save percentage (83.3).
Those numbers were obviously good enough for the White Sox, and Santos on Friday was rewarded with a three-year, $8.25 million contract.
There are also three club options: $6 million in 2015, $8 million in '16 and $8.75 million in '17.
Santos gets $1 million next season, $2.75 million in 2013 and $3.75 million in '14.
This year, he made $435,000.
All in all, it looks like a good deal for both sides.
Santos would have been arbitration eligible after next season and free-agent eligible after 2015.
The Sox have locked up a key piece in their bullpen, but what Santos are they getting?
Are they going to get the guy that had 28 saves and a 2.63 ERA over the first five months of the season?
Or are they going to get the guy who couldn't throw his slider or changeup and had a 9.35 ERA and 2 blown saves in September?
Santos failed when the White Sox needed him most — at Detroit on Sept 3. Needing a win to stay in the AL Central race, the Sox held an early 8-1 lead before the Tigers cut the deficit to 8-6.
Santos could not protect the 2-run lead in the ninth inning, serving up a 2-run homer to Ryan Raburn followed by Miguel Cabrera's game-winning homer.
The Sox did a quick fade from there, and finished a disappointing 79-83.
Santos has the arm and the stuff to close; he showed that for long stretches.
Maybe he just ran out of gas at the end of a tough season and will learn from the experience.
On Wednesday, pitching coach Don Cooper talked about Santos replacing Matt Thornton as closer early in the season.
“It's a different role,” Cooper said. “Getting the last outs is a little bit more pressure-packed. At the end of the day if you don't do the job, you fail. You're the guy that stands out; you're the guy that's got to stand up. If a closer has a bad day, it's a bad day for the team. And that's a big responsibility.
“He handled it well. He had himself a nice season. And now we've got to build on that.”