Right-hander Dennis Santana has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Pirates last week, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. He has exercised his right to elect free agency.
It’s not a surprising outcome. Santana posted a 6.05 earned run average with the Bucs this year, which is why he was bumped off the roster. Given that performance and his $3.5MM salary, he wasn’t going to have huge trade value or much appeal as a waiver claimee.
As a player with at least five years of service time, he has the right to reject outright assignments without forfeiting any salary. The Pirates remain on the hook for the roughly $1.1MM still to be paid out. Another club can now sign Santana and would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what Pittsburgh pays.
Though 29 clubs just passed on the chance to grab Santana from the waiver wire, he should get more interest now that he is cheap. Maybe he could secure a big league roster spot somewhere but he might also be limited to minor league offers.
As mentioned, this year’s performance has not been good. His 19.9% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate were both subpar. But he’s not too far removed from being in decent form. He was acquired from the Yankees via waiver claim in June of 2024. From that claim to the end of 2025, he gave the Pirates 114 2/3 innings with a 2.28 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate. He got some help from a .230 batting average on balls in play and 77.4% strand rate in that time, but adjusted metrics like his 2.91 FIP and 3.35 SIERA suggested he would have been posting good results with neutral favor from the baseball gods.
There are various clubs around the league in need of bullpen help. Santana isn’t going to be at the top of anyone’s lists but he is cheap and has some recent big league success, so he should be fielding some calls.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
