AL Central Notes: Carlos Santana’s option, Hosmer struggles

Cleveland will exercise Carlos Santana’s club option for next season, according to Today’s Knuckleball’s Jon Heyman.

One of Terry Francona’s better moves was to utilize Carlos Santana in the leadoff spot a lot. Santana always has been known for his high on-base percentage. He will be back next year when the Indians pick up his $12-million option.

Though keeping Santana on the roster won’t be cheap, he has proven to be a valuable offensive threat for the Indians’ lineup. Over 158 games this season, Santana is batting .259/.366/.498 with 34 home runs and 87 RBIs.

Santana, 30, is just a career .247 hitter, but adds a notable amount of power to Cleveland’s order and helped the club advance to the postseason in 2016.

More from around the American League Central:

• Eric Hosmer seems to struggle against left-handed pitching, which was an issue for Kansas City this season.

• Brad Ausmus will be Detroit’s manager in 2017, which for the sake of consistency is probably ideal.

• In their first move of the off-season, the White Sox optioned Jacob Turner to Triple-A.

• Derek Falvey was officially hired by the Twins in what might prove to be one of their most impressive off-season moves.

• It hasn’t taken the Indians long to prove why they’re in the post-season. Cleveland already has a two-game lead over the Red Sox.