The Santana signing, pending a physical, came shortly after the Guardians traded Josh Naylor (27) to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Santana took to Instagram to announce his return.
Santana spent 10 seasons with Cleveland over the course of his 15-year career. Now, the hometown hero is coming back for year 16 and hoping to assist the Guardians in winning a possible AL Central title.
During Santana's Gold Glove-winning season last year for the Minnesota Twins, the veteran slashed .238/.328/.420/.749 while hitting 23 home runs and 71 RBI.
While the former Cleveland fan-favourite is up there in age, he also posted his highest OPS+ (109) since 2019, the same year he won a Silver Slugger Award and was voted to the AL All-Star team.
Santana has also spent time with the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers.