Veteran power hitter Carlos Santana believes Twins will be a great fit

At the beginning of the offseason, Carlos Santana identified the Twins as one of the teams he was interested in joining.

Santana was familiar with the city and the ballpark after playing in the American League Central for a dozen seasons. He has known Derek Falvey, the Twins’ president of baseball operations, since he was a minor leaguer with Cleveland. Plus, he had friends on the team, including one of his offseason workout buddies, Jorge Polanco.

It took, however, the Twins trading Polanco to open the door for signing Santana.

“[Polanco] told me I would be a great fit for this team, especially because of my years in the league, the veteran I am,” Santana said Wednesday through team interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “He just talked greatly about this organization, coaches, the staff, and that’s why I decided to come here.”

Santana’s one-year, $5.25 million contract became official Wednesday, along with the Twins’ one-year, $1.5 million deal for reliever Jay Jackson. The Twins announced they claimed righthanded reliever Zack Weiss off waivers from Boston, and they designated three players for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster, including former top pitching prospect Jordan Balazovic.

The Twins kept tabs on Santana’s free agency, and they told his agent it could be a fit if they traded an infielder to create more at-bats. Santana, a switch-hitter and a 2023 Gold Glove finalist at first base, has played at least 143 games in 11 of the past 12 full seasons (excluding the 60-game 2020 season when he played all 60).

“When you lose Jorge Polanco who is going to give you quality at-bats in the middle-to-top end of that lineup, Carlos has — I’m not saying it’s the same by any means — a similar profile in the sense of this guy can take a walk, he really knows the strike zone, he’s always been a tough at-bat and he’s a really good clubhouse fit,” Falvey said.

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Santana spoke with Carlos Correa and Joe Ryan after signing with the Twins this week, which he felt solidified his reasoning for joining his third AL Central club.

“The Twins have players like Carlos Correa, starters Pablo López and Joe Ryan, players that always show up to the ballpark and always want to win,” said Santana, who also works out in the offseason with Willi Castro. “With players like that, it motivates you to be with them.”

The Twins are still looking to add to the roster, Falvey said, in search of more pitching depth and an outfielder, likely one who hits righthanded. Weiss made 12 appearances with the Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels last year, matching his career high. The slider-heavy reliever yielded a 3.21 ERA with 15 strikeouts and six walks in 14 innings.

“I feel good about those guys that are going to be in Fort Myers and I feel good about what we know right now about the health of the group,” Falvey said.

Balazovic, once considered the Twins’ top pitching prospect, was out of minor league options, which was one reason why he was designated for assignment along with recent waiver claims, righthander Daniel Duarte and outfielder Bubba Thompson.

The 25-year-old Balazovic, a righthander, debuted in the Twins’ bullpen last year. He posted a 4.44 ERA across 24⅓ innings with 17 strikeouts and 12 walks. The Twins have a week to place him on waivers or trade him.

Balazovic represented the Twins at the 2019 MLB Futures Game, but his development as a starting pitcher stalled once he reached Class AAA in 2022. After he was sidelined in spring training last year from a broken jaw, he moved to the bullpen for the first time. His odds of cracking the Opening Day roster dropped after the Twins added relievers Justin Topa, Josh Staumont and Jackson this winter.

“Ultimately, still really think highly of Jordan’s mix and things that he can continue to do,” Falvey said, “but at this time, it didn’t fit as well on our 40-man [roster].”