Twins sign Ervin Santana for $54 million

by Aaron Gleeman

Last offseason Ervin Santana had so much trouble securing a multi-year contract after turning down a qualifying offer that he settled for a one-year, $14.1 million deal with the Braves.

This time around it’s a much different story, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that Santana has agreed to a four-year deal with the Twins worth around $54 million. That would be the largest free agent contract in Twins history, narrowly topping last year’s four-year, $49 million deal with Ricky Nolasco.

Santana actually had a better 2013 than 2014, but he still pitched well for Atlanta with a 3.95 ERA and 179/63 K/BB ratio at age 31. He had a 3.24 ERA for Kansas City in 2013 and prior to that Santana posted a 4.33 ERA in eight seasons with the Angels.