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Trade for Santiago expected this week
A trade with the Kansas City Royals for Santiago is expected to be completed this week once Santiago passes a physical. He is scheduled to fly to Pittsburgh and be examined after the conclusion of the winter meetings.
In exchange for Santiago, an 18-year veteran who will turn 40 in March, the Pirates will give up a minor-league prospect on their 40-man roster, most likely 21-year-old right-hander Leo Nunez.
The deal also will include the Royals picking up a significant chunk -- as much as $1.4 million -- of the $2.15 million owed to Santiago next season.
"We're still pursuing things," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said Sunday night. "Nothing is done."
Negotiations with Santiago gathered momentum Saturday night after the Pirates decided not to pursue a trade for Colorado Rockies catcher Charles Johnson. The Pirates balked at Johnson's demands for a contract extension in lieu of a $1 million relocation bonus.
In the Johnson deal, the Pirates would have paid only $750,000 of his $9 million salary. Assuming the Royals pay $1.4 million, the Pirates' outlay for Santiago also would be $750,000. Santiago also has incentives in his contract that kick in once he appears in 85 games.
After trading Jason Kendall, Littlefield's goal was to obtain a veteran to catch between 80-100 games. Before last season, when a hand injury limited him to 49 games, Santiago averaged 122 games in three years with the San Francisco Giants.
Unproven backup Humberto Cota has appeared in 60 games over parts of four seasons.
"We're looking for insurance based on the unknown of what Cota can do," Littlefield said. "We like Cota, but we're just not prepared to hand him the job for 130 games based upon what we've seen."
Trading for Santiago doesn't come without its drawbacks. In addition to his age, Santiago is coming off an injury-shortened season. He also was one of the players that testified before a grand jury in the BALCO steroids case.
As a free agent last winter, Santiago signed a two-year, $4.3 million contract with the Royals. He batted .274 with six homers and 23 RBI, but didn't play after June 8 because of a fractured left hand. Santiago was injured when he was struck by a pitch.
Still, Royals pitchers had a 4.65 ERA while Santiago was behind the plate, the lowest ERA among any of the team's catchers.
Two weeks after Santiago's injury, the Royals solidified their catching situation when they acquired rookie John Buck from the Houston Astros in the Carlos Beltran trade.
Nunez, signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2000, was added to the Pirates' 40-man roster in November after going 10-4 with a 3.06 ERA in 27 games at Class A Hickory. He had three complete games in 20 starts while striking out 140 and walking 46 in 144 innings.
After finalizing the Santiago deal , the Pirates will have enough money left to pursue a low-priced free-agent starting pitcher, using the funds accumulated in trades with the Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Royals.
"We're not going to do anything in the free agent market until after the non-tenders come out (Dec. 20)," Littlefield said.
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