Dear Indians Fans:

Over the past year, we have frequently referenced how excited we are to have a young, talented core of players compose much of our major league roster.

Today, we announced that the Indians have signed Carlos Santana to a five-year contract with an additional Club option year, ensuring that a key member of that core will remain with the Indians through at least 2016 or 2017.  Over the past two years, Carlos has developed into one of the elite power hitting catchers in baseball.  In his first full, healthy season in the Major Leagues in 2011, Carlos led all catchers with 27 HR, finished second in RBI with 79 and set a club record for single-season home runs by a switch-hitter.  In a short time, he has become one of the most feared hitters in the league and an anchor in the middle of our lineup.

In addition, his offensive production is made all the more valuable given that he plays the most demanding defensive position on the field.  Since we traded for Carlos in the summer of 2008, he has continually looked to improve all facets of his game and we believe that he will develop into a cornerstone player for our team over the term of this contract.

Signing Carlos on the heels of our extension with Asdrubal Cabrera provides us stability and production at two of the most important positions on the diamond.  Equally important, by signing multi-year contracts while still under contract, both players have demonstrated a desire to commit to our organization and our city.  With their commitment and continued development, we are excited about our prospects for the 2012 season and beyond.

We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you soon at Progressive Field.

 
Go Tribe!

 

 

 

Chris Antonetti
Cleveland Indians Exec. VP and GM

P.S.  Check out this note from the Elias Sports Bureau on where Carlos stacks up historically amongst catchers in their first full Major League seasons – last year he became one of only 4 players in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to catch at least 80 games behind the plate while starting at least 100 games in either the 3rd or 4th spot of his team’s batting order.  Pretty impressive that two of the four have happened in an Indians uniform.