Santana agreed to a contract with the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball on Wednesday, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
Cleveland declined the 28-year-old's $5 million club option for 2021 in October, and he'll head overseas in an attempt to revitalize his career. Santana had 30 homers and an .876 OPS during 2017, but he bottomed out in 2020 with a .584 OPS in 24 games.
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Domingo Santana: Team option refused
Rotowire
Santana's $5 million team option was declined by Cleveland on Friday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Santana spent the final month of the season at the alternate training site after being outrighted in early September. However, he'll now become a free agent after hitting .157 with two home runs and 12 RBI during his time in the majors in 2020.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Outrighted to alternate site
Rotowire
Santana cleared waivers and was outrighted to Cleveland's alternate training site Friday.
The 28-year-old was designated for assignment at the start of the week, but he'll remain in the organization after going unclaimed on waivers. Santana never got on track in 2020 with a .157/.298/.286 slash line, two homers and 12 RBI in 84 plate appearances.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Removed from 40-man roster
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The Indians designated Santana for assignment Monday.
Santana was cast off the 40-man roster after Cleveland needed to open up a spot Monday shortly after the club dealt away Mike Clevinger and Greg Allen and received three MLB-ready contributors in Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill and Josh Naylor as part of its six-player return. Naylor will essentially replace Santana as the club's primary left fielder, though the latter already appeared to have lost hold of that job after he was out of the lineup for four of the Indians' past six games. Though he got off to a hot start for Seattle in 2019, Santana has been a disaster offensively dating back to the second half of last season, slashing .140/.262/.256 over 192 plate appearances while striking out 38 percent of the time.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: On bench again
Rotowire
Santana is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.
Santana's hold on an everyday role in the Cleveland outfield appears to be slipping. With his season batting average dipping to .157 after an 0-for-2 showing in Saturday's 2-1 win, he'll head to the bench for the fourth time in six games. The Indians have given Jordan Luplow, Greg Allen and Mike Freeman starts in left field over that stretch, so manager Terry Francona has yet to settle on a replacement for Santana as the main option at that position.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Sitting amid slump
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Santana is not in Friday's lineup against the Cardinals.
It's not a good sign for Santana that Jordan Luplow is starting over him with a righty (Daniel Ponce de Leon) on the mound for the Cardinals, as Luplow is on the roster because of his ability to mash lefties. Santana is hitting .156 with one home run and 11 strikeouts over his last 10 games.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Not in lineup Wednesday
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Santana isn't in Wednesday's lineup against the Twins.
Santana went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Tuesday, and he'll retreat to the bench for the second time in the past three contests. Greg Allen will start in left field in his place.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Not starting Monday
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Santana isn't in the lineup for Monday's game against the Twins.
Santana has been in a bit of slump recently as he's hit just .135 with one home run and 10 RBI over the past 12 contests. He'll get a day off Monday with Mike Freeman starting in left field.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Another clutch hit
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Santana went 1-for-4 with a double and three RBI on Saturday against the Tigers.
Santana had only one hit, but he made it count by driving in three with his double in the sixth inning. That put Cleveland up 3-1, and it was all the run support that Triston McKenzie and the bullpen needed to secure the win. Santana has hits in three of his last four contests, driving in seven runs in that span. Overall, Santana is hitting .177/.320/.323 with 12 RBI and six runs scored across 75 plate appearances.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Records key knock
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Santana went 1-for-4 with a double and three RBI on Wednesday against the Pirates.
Santana delivered a bases-loaded double in the eighth inning to give Cleveland a 6-0 lead. It was only his second double and fourth overall extra-base hit of the season. Santana hitting .170/.302/.321 with eight RBI and five runs scored across 63 plate appearances to this point in the campaign.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Makes third straight start
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Santana will start in left field and bat seventh Sunday against the Tigers.
Since Tyler Naquin (toe) was reinstated from the injured list Tuesday, he's taken over as the club's primary right fielder, leaving Santana, Bradley Zimmer and Oscar Mercado to duke it out for starts in left field versus right-handed pitching. Santana has thus far been winning that battle, as he'll be starting in left for the third game in a row. Santana will need to step it up offensively to ensure he sticks in a full-time role, however, as he's batting an underwhelming .190/.333/.357 over 51 plate appearances on the season.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Drives in three runs
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Santana went 1-for-3 with a home run, three RBI and a run scored in a 10-5 win over the Tigers on Friday.
Santana broke the game wide open for the Indians in the fourth inning with a three-run blast to extend the lead to 7-3. His long ball was his first hit in three games, so it was nice to see the veteran outfielder contribute on offense once again. Santana has appeared in three consecutive games just once this season, so expect him to share right field duties with Tyler Naquin while Oscar Mercado continues to get looks in left.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Not in Wednesday's lineup
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Santana is not starting Wednesday against the Cubs.
Santana has been the primary right fielder for Cleveland this season, but he doesn't have anything close to a true everyday role, starting a modest 12 of the season's first 19 games. Tyler Naquin will be the right fielder Wednesday.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Homers and scores twice
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Santana went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and a pair of runs scored in Saturday's win over the White Sox.
Santana single and scored on a Jordan Luplow homer in the fourth inning. He later hit a solo shot of his own off Steve Cishek in the eighth. The strong performance was enough to raise his season OPS from .583 to .746.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Back to bench
Rotowire
Santana is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the White Sox.
Santana returned to the starting lineup Thursday after sitting for the first three games of the week, but he'll head right back to the bench after going 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. He's hitting just .167 through nine games. Bradley Zimmer gets the nod in right field.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Remains on bench
Rotowire
Santana will sit for the third straight game Wednesday against the Reds.
Santana started eight of Cleveland's first 10 games but seems to be losing his starting role. A .158/.407/.211 slash line certainly isn't helping his case for everyday at-bats, though he's at least walked at a 26.9 percent clip. Bradley Zimmer starts in right field for the second straight game Wednesday.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Riding bench again Tuesday
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Santana isn't starting Tuesday against the Reds.
Santana was a staple in Cleveland's lineup over much of the past week, starting six consecutive games. However, he went hitless in 14 at-bats with one run, five walks and seven strikeouts. He'll now sit for the second consecutive game with Bradley Zimmer starting in right field and batting sixth.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Not in Monday's lineup
Rotowire
Santana will not start Monday against the Reds.
Santana has been in the lineup on a regular basis this season, sitting for just the third time in the first 11 games. He's gone just 3-for-19 thus far, though he does have an impressive seven walks, giving him a .407 on-base percentage. Daniel Johnson starts in right field Monday.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: On bench for afternoon game
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Santana will sit for the first half of Tuesday's doubleheader against the White Sox, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
Santana will sit for the second time in Cleveland's first four games, though this may not wind up being a true off day, as he could still be in the lineup for the nightcap. Daniel Johnson starts in right field in his absence.
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Indians' Domingo Santana: Set to DH
Rotowire
Santana is expected to open the year as Cleveland's designated hitter, MLB.com's Mandy Bell reports.
The Indians have a couple sluggers (Santana and Franmil Reyes) who would ideally be deployed at DH, but Santana is the worse defender of the two. He will need to hit out of the gate to continue getting regular starts at DH, as the Indians have players like Jake Bauers, Bradley Zimmer and Bobby Bradley waiting in the wings.
