Rangers Trade Dennis Santana to Braves

Dennis Santana was set to hit salary arbitration for the first time in his MLB career.

The Texas Rangers announced Tuesday they traded relief pitcher Dennis Santana to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations.

Santana, on the 40-man roster, was used as a set-up man in 2022.

This is the second trade the Rangers have made with Atlanta in a week. Last Wednesday, the Rangers acquired starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi and cash considerations for pitcher Kolby Allard.

Earlier on Tuesday, Rangers starting pitcher Martín Pérez accepted the qualifying offer extended by the Rangers, which is $19.65 million for the 2023 season. That keeps the left-hander out of free agency.

Santana was eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this offseason. Santana threw for at least 54 innings for the second straight season for the Rangers. He went 3-8 with a 5.22 ERA in 63 games (all but one appearance was in relief). He had 20 holds and one save. He pitched 58 2/3 innings, giving up 50 hits, 39 runs (34 earned), two home runs and 28 walks. He struck out 54. Batters hit .228 against him and he had a 1.33 WHIP.

His 63 appearances was a career-high in the majors. His ERA went up by nearly a point from 2021 to 2022.

Santana was sharp for the first three months of the season. His ERA was under 2.00 in each of those three months and his opponent batting average was under .200. But in July his numbers ballooned. His ERA jumped by three points. His numbers didn’t stabilize until mid-September, as he threw shutout baseball in his final six appearances.

At the time of the trade, the Rangers had 34 players on their 40-man roster.

Pitchers (22)

A.J. Alexy, Joe Barlow, Brock Burke, Dane Dunning, Jon Gray, Taylor Hearn, Jonathan Hernández, Spencer Howard, Zak Kent, John King, José Leclerc, Brett Martin, Jake Odorizzi, Glenn Otto, Martin Perez, Cole Ragans, Yerry Rodriguez, Josh Sborz, Nick Snyder, Ricky Vanasco, Owen White, Cole Winn.

Catchers (2): Jonah Heim, Sam Huff

Infielders (8): Luisangel Acuña, Ezequiel Duran, Josh Jung, Nathaniel Lowe, Jonathan Ornelas, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Josh H. Smith

Outfielders (6): Adolis García, Dustin Harris, Brad Miller, Leody Taveras, Bubba Thompson, Eli White

Designated Hitter (2): Mitch Garver, Mark Mathias

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