Santana market heats up

The number of teams interested in free agent Ervin Santana has grown considerably. According to CBS Sports Jon Heyman, the Indians, Rockies, Royals, and possibly others have joined the Blue Jays, Mariners, and Orioles as potential landing spots for the 31-year-old starter.

The Mariners, Orioles, and Blue Jays seem to be the most logical suitors for Santana, and each has expressed significant interest in him over the past week. The Rockies have also been linked to him, but the interest had reportedly been minute until now.

It is likely that teams like the Indians, Rockies, Royals, and even the Phillies or Reds are only interested on the basis of him signing a one-year deal. The Phillies, of course, have shown an interest in competing this offseason despite an outlook that sees third place in the NL East as the absolute best case scenario. The Royals are intriguing since they wouldn't have to give up a draft pick to sign him, but they may be capped out financially. The Indians could also land him, but it seems more likely that they go after retaining Ubaldo Jimenez, since Santana would cost them a draft pick.

Santana is likely seeking a deal in the $50-60 million range, slightly above what guys like Matt Garza and Ricky Nolasco received in the past few months.

I recently wrote about the potential reasons for Santana's delayed signing, and it seems that the presence of draft pick compensation and a still unsigned Jimenez have been the primary causes.

Santana spent all of 2013 with the Royals after pitching for the Angels for the previous 8 seasons. In 211 innings, he posted a 3.24 ERA, 3.69 xFIP, 3.16 SO/BB ratio, and 3.0 WAR.