Luis

Santana

Santana was released by the Astros earlier this week after just eight games at Double-A Corpus Christi. The 23-year-old infielder will head to Double-A Erie for Detroit and represents additional organizational depth at this stage of his career. He was acquired by Houston from the Mets in the J.D. Davis trade back in 2019.

Santana also scored three runs. The 20-year-old is now slashing .267/.345/.285 over his 50 games this year, and he’s added four steals. Those numbers aren’t terribly impressive, but they’re also not indicative of his talent. Acquired in the deal that sent J.D. Davis to the Mets, Santana has a swing that suggests he can make hard contact to all parts of the field, and while there’s no power yet, he could provide double-digit homers as he gets stronger. This is very much a long-term play, but Santana has a chance to be an everyday player for the Astros -- or another organization -- in the next decade.

The 19-year-old second baseman spent the 2018 season playing for the Rookie-level Kingsport Mets and fared quite well at the plate, slashing .348/.446/.471 with four home runs, 35 RBI and eight stolen bases. MLB Pipeline has him ranked at number 24 on their list of the Mets’ top prospects. He is still in the early stages of his development and is a nice flyer for the Astros to add to their farm system.