The Braves will grant veteran first baseman Carlos Santana his release from Triple-A Gwinnett today, as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Santana had been with Gwinnett on a non-roster deal since the end of June. He will become a free agent and try to latch on with another team for the stretch run.
The 40-year-old Santana has been a journeyman in the past few seasons. Since the start of 2023, he’s suited up in big league games for the Pirates, Brewers, Twins, Guardians, Cubs, and Diamondbacks. He was below-average with the bat last year and didn’t fare any better upon joining the Diamondbacks for 2026, as he hit .083/.154/.125 in 26 plate appearances. A right adductor strain sent him to the injured list in early April, and after he struggled on a rehab assignment, Arizona designated him for assignment on June 24th.
Santana caught on with the Braves a few days later and has since looked more like himself at the plate. In 104 plate appearances for Gwinnett, he is batting .292/.385/.382 with a 108 wRC+, 18.3% strikeout rate, and 12.3% walk rate.
Despite this success, it isn’t surprising that the Braves are parting ways with Santana, given that Matt Olson has first base covered in Atlanta. With Ronald Acuna Jr. getting a good chunk of DH time and Dominic Smith getting most of the designated hitter time when Acuna is in the field, it seems like there just wasn’t room for Santana on the 26-man roster. The release gives the veteran some opportunity to see if he find another job on a team with a clearer path to MLB playing time.
