Phillies Sign Indians Slugger Carlos Santana, Trade Freddy Galvis

PHILADELPHIA, PA — As snowfall battered the Philadelphia region and made baseball season seem very far away indeed, the Phillies radically changed their 2018 roster through a pair of moves.

Early in the afternoon, defensive whiz and clubhouse leader Freddy Galvis was dealt to the San Diego Padres in exchange for a pitching prospect. And just hours later, former Cleveland Indians star first baseman and free agent Carlos Santana was signed to a three year deal.

The shocking and high impact Santana signing was first reported by Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. The three year deal, worth $60 million, comes with a $17.5 million club option for a fourth year, should the Phillies decide they want to keep him around.

The signing of Santana, 31, a key fixture in the titan-filled Indians lineup, represents the most concrete sign yet that the Phillies are in the final stages of their rebuild and are ready to again compete. Adding Santana to a young core of talented bats will give the Phillies a very competitive offense in 2018, though starting pitching remains something of a question mark.

Just hours before, the Phillies traded the 28-year-old Galvis for Enyel De Los Santos, one of the better prospect arms in a deep San Diego farm system, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported. De Los Santos, 21, figures to start the year in either Double-A or Triple-A; he pitched to a 3.78 ERA over 150 innings in Double-A ball last season.

The trading of Galvis opens up room in the middle infield to J.P. Crawford to take over the mantle as the franchise's shortstop of the future. It also gives them more flexibility with another young star, second baseman Scott Kingery, likely on his way to Philadelphia early next year.

The analytics-minded Phillies front office has made no secret of the fact that they covet on base percentage as a metric, something at which Santana, and Marlins star outfielder Christian Yelich (another rumored favorite), and recent first round draft picks Mickey Moniak and Adam Haseley, all excel. Santana slugged to a line of .259/.363/.455 last year, while hitting 23 home runs. The power is definitely there: he hit 34 homers in 2016. The injury-free consistency is also there: he's played in at least 152 games each season except for one the last seven years.

Santana has long been connected to the Phillies via rumors, although those rumors left many scratching their heads. The Phillies have budding star Rhys Hoskins at first base, with solid regular Tommy Joseph backing him up. Hoskins played some left field last year, but that would leave one of Aaaron Altherr, Nick Williams, or Odubel Herrera without a starting position. Santana has also played some third base and catcher in his past, though his glove rates best at first. It's possible the Phillies would consider plugging him at third in place of Maikel Franco, who struggled last year. It's also possible one of the Altherr, Williams, or Herrera is traded; the Phillies still desperately need reliable starting pitching behind Aaron Nola.

A 2018 opening day lineup for the Phillies could look something like this: CF Herrera, SS Crawford, 1B Santana, LF Hoskins, RF Altherr, C Alfaro, 3B Franco, 2B Kingery, SP Nola. That's a lineup that could be in the mix for the wild card race.

Acquiring Santana also solidifies the Phillies intent to improve significantly on their 2017 result, and begin the climb back into contention. It's also a sign to other major free agents on the market, this winter and next, that the Phillies are serious about winning in the very near future.

Image of Santana courtesy AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File; image of Galvis courtesy AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson