The Los Angeles Angels can lay claim to having doled out one of the worst contracts in baseball history with the signing of Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million contract prior to the 2013 season.
What makes it even worse is that the Angels are paying Hamilton $26.4 million this season to take up space on the disabled list with the Texas Rangers, and will pay him the same amount next season.
But at least the Angels can take some solace in knowing there are other teams that have made bad decisions, and will get the chance to face one Tuesday when the Minnesota Twins send Ervin Santana to the mound to face the Angels at Angel Stadium.
Santana has had a fairly productive career, most of it spent with the Angels, going 96-80 in eight seasons with the club. He went 9-10 with the Royals in 2013 and 14-10 with the Braves in 2014, prompting the Twins to sign the right-hander to a four-year, $54 million contract.
But before Santana delivered one pitch in a Twins uniform, suspended for using a banned substance and sidelined for the first half of the 2015 season before finishing 7-5 in 17 starts.
And the way things have gone for Santana so far this season, they might be wishing he was still on the suspended list. He goes into Tuesday’s game having lost four consecutive decisions and is 1-6 with a 4.77 ERA. Overall, the Twins are 1-10 in games started by Santana this season.
The Twins were optimistic about Santana heading into the season.
“We brought him in two winters ago with the idea of him being a reliable guy who can give you innings and repeat almost every start,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune before the start of the season. “It is good to know we have him from day one.”
While Santana has yet to give the Twins what they hoped for, the Angels won’t feel sorry for them. Injuries and lack of production from the pitching staff forced them to look elsewhere for pitching, and they landed Jhoulys Chacin from the Braves for a minor leaguer a month ago.
Chacin, who will start Tuesday against the Twins, hasn’t been great — he’s 1-2 with a 4.42 ERA in six starts, not much different than what he did with the Braves earlier this season before the trade (1-2, 5.40). Chacin, though, has shown signs he can be an effective pitcher.
He threw the Angels’ only complete game of the year on May 30 against the Tigers, giving up one run and four hits while striking out 10.
“He’s an experienced guy that has I think (has) gotten his stuff back to where he can pitch well in the big leagues,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said when the club made the deal. “We’ll give him his chance. Hopefully, he’s going to give us what we need to fill out our rotation.”