MILWAUKEE — The Brewers needed to add a bat, and now they have.
Watch:
Interview this morning with Matt Arnold talking about who was helping him decide when they make trade decisions.
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Carlos Santana is headed to Milwaukee in exchange for young shortstop prospect Jhonny Severino, the team confirms.
Pittsburgh beat writer Jason Mackey first reported the news. The trade was later confirmed by ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The Brewers issued the following statement confirming the news:
The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired veteran first baseman Carlos Santana from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for infielder Jhonny Severino. The announcement was made by Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold.
"We are thrilled to add Carlos," said Arnold. "He is a switch-hitting power bat and quality defender. His veteran presence and winning attitude will also be a valuable addition to the clubhouse as we continue our push to the postseason."
Santana, 37, hit 12 HR and had a team-leading 53 RBI with Pittsburgh this season in 94 games, all starts (85g at 1B, 9g at DH). He hit a pair of homers on Monday in San Diego and followed with another homer yesterday against the Padres. On the other side of the field, Santana leads all Major League first basemen with six defensive runs saved according to FanGraphs.
Santana is a career .242 hitter with 290 HR and 978 RBI in 1,878 games between Cleveland (2010-17, '19-20), Philadelphia (2018), Kansas City (2021-22), Seattle (2022) and Pittsburgh (2023). He has a career .357 OBP/.431 SLG/.788 OPS. The 2019 All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner has 216 HR as a left-handed batter and 74 HR as a right-handed batter. His 290 career home runs rank 10th in Major League history among switch-hitters. In 10 career games at American Family Field, he has hit .364 (12-for-33, 1 HR, 2 RBI).
An experienced winner, Santana has played in the postseason five times in his Major League career (2013, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022). He was a key member of the 2016 American League champions as he belted 34 HR for Cleveland that season.
Severino, 18, signed with Milwaukee as a non-drafted free agent in January 2022. He played in 12 games with the Rookie ACL Brewers this season and 48 games with the Rookie Dominican Summer League Brewers last season.
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This is Santana's 14th season in the majors. So far in the 2023 campaign, Santana has appeared in 94 games, good for an OPS of .732. Santana has also hit 12 home runs and has racked up 53 RBIs.
Santana's OPS of .732 would be third-best on the Brewers roster, behind only Christian Yelich (.855) and William Contreras (.779).
