Royals Acquire Ervin Santana

Ken Rosenthal is reporting the Royals have acquired Angels right-handed pitcher Ervin Santana. The compensation is not yet know.

The twenty-nine year old right-hander has spent his entire eight year career in Anaheim. Last year he was 9-13 with a 5.06 ERA. He had a career best season in 2010, winning 17 games and posting a 3.92 ERA. Overall he has a 96-80 record with a 4.33 ERA. He has been fairly durable too, never making fewer than 20 starts in a season.

Santana has outperformed his FIP in each of the last three seasons, although not significantly so. He averages about seven strikeouts and three walks per nine innings. He throws primarily a four-seam fastball and slider, although he began to mix in a change-up this season. He generally throws in the mid to low-90s, although he did suffer a decline in velocity this season.

Santana has a $13 million club option for the 2013 season that the Royals will now presumably exercise (the buyout is $1 million). Santana is a free agent after the season.

EDIT: Reports are the Royals have given up left-handed reliever Brandon Sisk, who I believe was available in the Rule 5 draft just a year ago. This appears to be the entire deal, so nice work Dayton.

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